The Watauga River starts as a spring near Grandfather Mountain in NC and winds its way 78.5 miles to the Holston River in Eastern Tennessee. It eventually pours into the Gulf of Mexico.
Along the way, the river flows through a stunning, rugged and nearly inaccessible gorge near the state line, where it soon pools up at the 6,430-acre Watauga Lake in TN. Impounded by the Watauga and Wilbur dams, the river flows freely again near Elizabethton TN.
The lake and river of the Watauga in the mountains of NC and TN offer classic whitewater, fishing, tubing, boating, swimming holes, waterfalls, bouldering, hiking, camping and more.