The Tennessee River Gorge is a

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

formed by the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...

known locally as Cash Canyon. It is the fourth largest river

gorge A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...

in the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

. The gorge is cut into the

Cumberland Plateau The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, and portions of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia. The terms " Al ...

as the river winds its way into

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

from

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. The Tennessee River Gorge was also known as Walden Gorge.

Walden Ridge Walden Ridge (or Walden's Ridge) is a mountain ridge and escarpment located in Tennessee in the United States. It marks the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau and is generally considered part of it. Walden Ridge is about long, running genera ...

originally extended across the present path of the Tennessee River at the gorge to Sand Mountain.

Ecology

The Tennessee River Gorge is home to endangered species like the mountain skullcap.

History

Many archaeological sites have been discovered in the gorge that show that people have been dwelling in the canyon for at least 10,000 years. Prior to the completion of Hales Bar Dam in 1913 and the subsequent raising of the water level, the stretch of the Tennessee River flowing through the gorge was notorious for its navigational hazards, whirlpools, eddies, shoals, and one huge rock. Beginning with Williams' Island and the sandbars on either side of it, these obstructions included Tumbling Shoals, the Holston Rock, the Kettle, the Suck Shoals, the Deadman's Eddy, the Pot, the Skillet, the Pan, and, finally, the ten-mile Narrows, ending with Hale's Bar. As of 2018, 17,000 acres of land in the gorge out of 27,000 acres sought for preservation have been purchased or otherwise secured for conservation by the Tennessee River Gorge Trust, a non-profit conservation trust founded in 1981. The trust also does scientific studies, develops trails, and conducts education efforts.https://www.tennesseerivervalleygeotourism.org/content/tennessee-river-gorge/ Prentice Cooper State Forest is on the northern edge of the gorge.

Image gallery

File:Gallery-gorge2-800.jpg, View from Signal Point, looking east File:Gallery-gorge3-800.jpg, View from Signal Point, looking west File:Gallery-gorge4-800.jpg, Elder Mountain

References

External links

Tennessee River Gorge TrustTennessee River Blueway
Canyons and gorges of Alabama Archaeological sites in Alabama Archaeological sites in Tennessee Protected areas of Hamilton County, Tennessee Protected areas of Marion County, Tennessee Nature reserves in Tennessee Canyons and gorges of the United States Landforms of Hamilton County, Tennessee Landforms of Marion County, Tennessee {{Tennessee-protected-area-stub