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French Broad River

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from French Broad)

French Broad River
French Broad River in Henderson County, North Carolina
French Broad River watershed
Location
CountryUnited States
StateNorth Carolina, Tennessee
Physical characteristics
SourceNorth Fork French Broad River
 • locationTransylvania County, North Carolina
 • coordinates35°15′57″N 82°53′20″W / 35.26583°N 82.88889°W / 35.26583; -82.88889[1][2]
 • elevation3,189 ft (972 m)
2nd sourceWest Fork French Broad River
 • locationTransylvania County, North Carolina
 • coordinates35°11′09″N 82°59′01″W / 35.18583°N 82.98361°W / 35.18583; -82.98361[3]
 • elevation3,440 ft (1,050 m)
Source confluence 
 • locationRosman, North Carolina
 • coordinates35°08′33″N 82°50′19″W / 35.14250°N 82.83861°W / 35.14250; -82.83861[4][5]
 • elevation2,195 ft (669 m)
MouthTennessee River
 • location
Knoxville, Tennessee
 • coordinates
35°57′33″N 83°51′0″W / 35.95917°N 83.85000°W / 35.95917; -83.85000[5]
 • elevation
814 ft (248 m)[5]
Length219 mi (352 km)[4]
Basin size
5,124 sq mi (13,270 km2)[6]
Discharge 
 • locationRiverdale, Tennessee, 7.5 miles (12.1 km) above the mouth(mean for water years 1945–1983)[7]
 • average7,878 cu ft/s (223.1 m3/s)(mean for water years 1945–1983)[7]
 • minimum67 cu ft/s (1.9 m3/s)October 1953[7]
 • maximum160,000 cu ft/s (4,500 m3/s)July 1867[7]
Basin features
ProgressionFrench Broad → Tennessee → Ohio → Mississippi
Tributaries 
 • leftPigeon River, Little Pigeon River
 • rightSwannanoa River, Nolichucky River

The French Broad River is a river in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Tennessee. It flows 218 miles (351 km)[4] from near the town of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee, where its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville forms the beginning of the Tennessee River. The river flows through the counties of Transylvania, Henderson, Buncombe, and Madison in North Carolina, and Cocke, Jefferson, Sevier, and Knox in Tennessee. It drains large portions of the Pisgah National Forest and the Cherokee National Forest. It is often believed to be one of the oldest rivers in the world.[8]

Course

[edit]

The headwaters of the French Broad River are near the town of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, just northwest of the Eastern Continental Divide near the northwest border of South Carolina. They spill from a 50-foot (15 m) waterfall called Courthouse Falls at the terminus of Courthouse Creek near Balsam Grove. The waterfall feeds into a creek that becomes the North Fork, which joins the West Fork west of Rosman. South of Rosman, the stream is joined by the Middle and East forks to form the French Broad River.

From there it flows northeast through the Appalachian Mountains into Henderson, and Buncombe counties. In Buncombe County, the river flows through Asheville where it receives the water of the Swannanoa River. Downstream of Asheville, the river passes north through Marshall and Madison County. After passing through Hot Springs in the Bald Mountains, the river enters Cocke County, Tennessee.

In Cocke County, the river passes through Del Rio and receives the waters of both the Pigeon and the Nolichucky rivers northwest of Newport. The river enters the slack waters of Douglas Lake, which was created by the Tennessee Valley Authority's Douglas Dam in Sevier County, approximately 32 miles (51 km) upstream from the river's mouth. Near Sevierville, at Kodak, the French Broad River receives the flow of the Little Pigeon River, which drains much of the Tennessee section of the Great Smoky Mountains. After flowing through a wide gap in Bays Mountain, it enters Knox County. Its confluence with the Holston River forms the Tennessee River at a place known as "Forks of the River", at the eastern edge of Knoxville.

Major tributaries

[edit]
  • North Fork
  • West Fork
  • East Fork
  • Middle Fork
  • Pigeon River
  • Nolichucky River
  • Mills River
  • Davidson River
  • Swannanoa River
  • Little River (French Broad River)

History

[edit]

Name Origin

[edit]

Before European colonization, the Cherokee people who occupied the area referred to the river by different names such as Poe-li-co, Agiqua, Zillicoah, and Tah-kee-os-tee ("racing waters").[8] The French colonists then named the river the French Broad River because it drained into French territory, and they needed to differentiate it from the Broad River, which also lies in North Carolina.[8]

Government Regulation

[edit]

Initiated as a project during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas Dam was completed in the 1940s on the lower French Broad by the TVA to provide electricity and flood control. It is one of the larger TVA developments on a tributary of the Tennessee River. (The two other very large ones are Norris Lake on the Clinch River and Cherokee Lake on the Holston River.)

In 1987, the North Carolina General Assembly established the French Broad River State Trail as a blueway which follows the river for 117 miles (188 km).[9] The paddle trail is a part of the North Carolina State Trails System, which is a section of the NC Division of Parks and Recreation. A system of launch point sites was created along the river to support the trail.

A portion of the French Broad River in Tennessee was designated as a state scenic river by the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Act of 1968.[10] Approximately 33 miles (53 km) of the river in Cocke County, starting at the North Carolina border and extending downstream to the place where it flows into Douglas Lake, are designated as a Class III, Partially Developed River.[10]

French Broad River as seen from the Appalachian Trail near Hot Springs, North Carolina

Crossings

[edit]

The following is a list of crossings of the French Broad from Brevard to the confluence with the Tennessee River.

North Carolina

[edit]

Tennessee

[edit]

Pollution

[edit]

Hurricane Helene

[edit]

In 2024, Hurricane Helene was reported to have had a greater impact on the French Broad River and surrounding areas than any other hurricane before it. [12] After Hurricane Helene, the French Broad River suffered from water pollution with high levels of contaminants recorded, including PFAS, pesticides, and other hazardous chemicals. [13] The chemicals found highly threaten aquatic life and pose a small risk to human health. [13]

Aquatic life

[edit]
Image of the snail darter Percina tanasi species of fish.
Image of the snail darter Percina tanasi species of fish.

Catfish, largemouth bass, and brown and rainbow trout are part of the diverse array of fish to be found in the French Broad River. [14] Additionally, populations of the Snail darter, a vulnerable fish species, are recorded to have increased significantly in the river since the species was initially sampled in 1988.[15]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: North Fork French Broad River
  2. ↑ John Hairr, North Carolina Rivers: Facts, Legend, and Lore (History Press, 2007), p. 90.
  3. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: West Fork French Broad River
  4. 1 2 3 U.S. Geological Survey. Rosman, NC. 1:24,000.
  5. 1 2 3 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: French Broad River
  6. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey, "Introduction to the Upper Tennessee River Basin," 11 January 2013. Accessed: 31 May 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 United States Geological Survey, Water Resources Data Tennessee: Water Year 1983, Water Data Report TN-83-1, p. 116.
  8. 1 2 3 "French Broad River – Blue Ridge National Heritage Area". www.blueridgeheritage.com. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  9. ↑ "Size of the North Carolina State Parks System" (XLS). North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation. January 1, 2019. Archived from the original on July 21, 2019. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  10. 1 2 "French Broad Scenic River". www.tn.gov. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  11. ↑ "Pedestrian Master Plan" (PDF). Town of Marshall. p. 17. Retrieved 28 May 2026.
  12. ↑ Amorim, Renato; Villarini, Gabriele; Czajkowski, Jeffrey; Smith, James (May 2025). "Flooding from Hurricane Helene and associated impacts: A historical perspective". Journal of Hydrology X. 27 100204. Bibcode:2025JHydX..2700204A. doi:10.1016/j.hydroa.2025.100204.
  13. 1 2 Walker-Franklin, Imari; Blake, Samantha; Thorp, Evan; Tuberty, Shea (2025-10-22). "Preliminary Identification of PFAS and Other Emerging Contaminants in the French Broad River, NC Post-Hurricane Helene". Toxics. 13 (11): 905. Bibcode:2025Toxic..13..905W. doi:10.3390/toxics13110905. ISSN 2305-6304. PMC 12656598. PMID 41304458.
  14. ↑ "Blue Ridge National Heritage Area". www.blueridgeheritage.com. Retrieved 2026-09-22.
  15. ↑ Ashton, Matthew J; Layzer, James B ((Jul–Oct 2008)). "DISTRIBUTION OF THE THREATENED SNAIL DARTER (PERCINA TANASI) IN THE UPPER TENNESSEE RIVER DRAINAGE". Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science. 83 (3/4): 52–56 – via Agricultural & Environmental Science Collection ProQuest Central. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Further reading

[edit]
  • Dykeman, Wilma. The French Broad (1955).
  • Rich, Jeff. Watershed: The French Broad River (2012).
[edit]
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