} The Cartecay River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed April 27, 2011 river that runs into Ellijay,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, in Gilmer County. It is the site of a class II

whitewater Whitewater forms in the context of rapids, in particular, when a river's Stream gradient, gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that foam, froths, making t ...

run. The Cartecay and Ellijay rivers meet in Ellijay to form the

Coosawattee River The Coosawattee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 river located in northwestern Georgia, United States. Description The river is noted as beg ...

. The Cartecay and most of its watershed are located within the southeast corner of

Gilmer County, Georgia Gilmer County is a county in the Northwest region of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, its population was 31,353. The county seat is Ellijay. named for a historic Cherokee town also spelled as Elejoy in the 18th century. The c ...

, but there are small sections of the watershed in Fannin, Pickens, and Dawson counties. CartecayRiverGA panorama

Much of the river runs east to west and is bordered by

Georgia State Route 52 State Route 52 (SR 52) is a state highway that travels west to east through portions of Whitfield, Murray, Gilmer, Dawson, Lumpkin, Hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In t ...

. The Cartecay River basin covers in total area. The major tributaries are Clear Creek, Licklog Creek, Owltown Creek, Anderson Creek and Tickanetley Creek. The land is mostly undeveloped, but the river passes through some residential developments. The

headwaters The headwater of a river or stream is the geographical point of its beginning, specifically where surface runoff water begins to accumulate into a flowing channel of water. A river or stream into which one or many tributary rivers or streams flo ...

of the Cartecay River begin in the

Chattahoochee National Forest The Chattahoochee River () is a river in the Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a rela ...

References

Rivers of Georgia (U.S. state) Rivers of Gilmer County, Georgia Rivers of Fannin County, Georgia Rivers of Pickens County, Georgia Rivers of Dawson County, Georgia {{GeorgiaUS-river-stub