Watauga River serves many purposes in Carter County

The Watauga River is 78.5 miles (126.3 km) long with its headwaters on the slopes of Grandfather Mountain and Peak Mountain in Watauga County, North Carolina. The river rises from a spring near the base of Peak Mountain at Linville Gap in Avery County, North Carolina. The spring emanates from the western side of the Tennessee Valley Divide, which is, at this location, congruent with the Eastern Continental Divide. On the other side of the divides at Linville Gap are the headwaters of the Linville River in the Upper Catawba Watershed. Waters of the Linville River eventually reach the Atlantic Ocean, whereas waters of the Watauga River reach the Gulf of Mexico; hence the Eastern Continental Divide. The river then flows across Watauga County, North Carolina crossing the Tennessee state line (River Mile (RM) 55.1) at Johnson County, then into Carter County, Tennessee and ends at its confluence with the Holston River’s South Fork (RM 0) on the Washington/Sullivan County border.

Recreation

Whitewater rafting, kayaking, canoeing, fly fishing, and angling with fishing reels are all popular recreation activities pursued on the Watauga River. Rainbow trout, brown trout, and striped bass are all caught in the Watauga River.

Whitewater

The Watauga River downstream of the TVA dam draws commercial rafting outfitters from both northeast Tennessee and western North Carolina during the summer months and commercial fishing guides throughout the year. The picturesque Class II+ Bee Cliff Rapids on the Watauga River (also referred to as the “Anaconda Rapids” by some North Carolina-based rafting companies) are found downstream between Wilbur Dam and the Siam Bridge, southeast of Elizabethton, Tennessee.[14]

For commercial whitewater rafting and kayaking on the Watauga River, the most popular Carter County “put-in” is immediately downstream of the TVA Wilbur Dam, and the most popular “take-out” is 2 to 2-1/2 hours downstream (depending upon the volume of the reservoir release and other factors) at the Blackbottom riverside portion of the city linear trail park in Elizabethton.

The distance afloat for paddlers from the put-in at Wilbur Dam to the Blackbottom take-out is approximately seven miles, with landmarks along the Watauga River providing a good estimate of time and distance traveled.

• Wilbur Dam to Bee Cliff Rapids - 15 minutes.

• Wilbur Dam to Siam Bridge - 30 minutes.

• Wilbur Dam to Hunter Bridge (TWRA put-in/take out) - 60 minutes.

• Wilbur Dam to Gilbert Peters Bridge at US 19-E in Elizabethton - 90 minutes.

• Wilbur Dam to Bristol Bridge in Elizabethton - 120 minutes.

The Watauga River also has a section of Class IV-V whitewater popular with expert kayakers, upstream of Watauga Lake and across the state line in North Carolina.[15] This section requires significant rainfall to bring it up to runnable levels. It features continuous steep boulder bed rapids dropping up to 150 feet per mile (28 m/km), and several falls and ledges only runnable by expert paddlers.

TVA recreation areas

The Tennessee Valley Authority maintains a self-service public campground below Watauga Dam. Amenities and recreational opportunities at the TVA Watauga Dam Tailwater Campground include 29 campsites with electric hookups, restrooms with heated showers and flush toilets, dump station, public phone, picnic tables and grills, canoe access, boat ramps above and below dam, lake and river fishing, hiking trail, walking trail, wildlife viewing area, and birdwatching.[16]