Carters Lake is a man-made

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

located on 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 ...

in the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a Physiographic regions of the United States, physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States and extends 550 miles southwest from southern ...

in Gilmer and

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American bicycle manufacturer * Murray Motor Car Company, an American car manufacturer * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trus ...

counties in the U.S. state of

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 ...

. It is the state's deepest lake.

Description

While the reservoir is on the Coosawattee River, it empties directly into the Regulation Reservoir (another reservoir on the river). The reservoir was named after Farrish Carter who lived in the 19th century. It has a surface area of and has of shoreline. Carters Lake has an average depth of and a maximum depth of . Fallcolorcarters

Carters Lake, owned by the

US Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...

, is a man-made lake without private docks or houses along its shore. This lake is fed by the

that runs between

Ellijay Ellijay, occasionally spelled Elijay, is a city in Gilmer County, Georgia, United States. Its population was 1,862 at the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Gilmer County. Agriculture is important in Gilmer County, known as the "Apple ...

and Chatsworth, and was formed by

Carters Dam Carters Dam is an earthen embankment dam located south of Chatsworth, Georgia, Chatsworth in Murray County, Georgia, Murray County and west of Ellijay, Georgia, Ellijay in northwestern Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, that creates ...

, the tallest earthen dam east of the Mississippi, which was completed in 1977. Since then, it has been used to act as a watershed to control annual flooding and generate power. Carters Lake is also used for various forms of outdoor recreation such as fishing, water skiing, hiking, camping, and mountain biking. Construction of the dam, and the filling in of the lake, destroyed the site of Coosa. That town was the seat of a paramount chiefdom of the Mississippian culture in 1540 when De Soto and his men visited the site on their expedition. The lake served as inspiration for the wild river that was tamed by a dam in the novel and film ''

Deliverance ''Deliverance'' is a 1972 American thriller film directed and produced by John Boorman from a screenplay by James Dickey, who adapted it from his own Deliverance (novel), 1970 novel. It follows four businessmen from Atlanta who venture into th ...

'' by

James Dickey James Lafayette Dickey (February 2, 1923 January 19, 1997) was an American poet, novelist, critic, and lecturer. He was appointed the 18th United States Poet Laureate in 1966. His other accolades included the National Book Award for Poetry a ...

References

External links

{{authority control Reservoirs in Georgia (U.S. state) Blue Ridge Mountains Protected areas of Gilmer County, Georgia Protected areas of Murray County, Georgia Bodies of water of Gilmer County, Georgia Bodies of water of Murray County, Georgia 1977 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)

Description

See also

References

External links