Tennessee River wins USA Today 10BesT Readers' Choice Travel Award for Best Urban Kayaking Spot
The Tennessee River was named USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice for the Best Urban Kayaking Spot. The Tennessee River, which runs right through the heart of Chattanooga, offers mild flatwater experiences for all kayaking levels, easy access to the water year-round, and beautiful scenic views.
The 10Best Readers' Choice Award contest is hosted bi-weekly by USA TODAY and lives on 10Best.com . Award categories and nominees are chosen by a panel of relevant experts which include a combination of editors from USA TODAY and 10Best.com and other relevant expert contributors. Once announced, the public votes digitally on nominees for four weeks.
View the Tennessee River’s spot in the 10Best Readers' Choice travel award contest for the Best Urban Kayaking Spot and all the top ten winners in this category.
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles (1,049 km) long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, as the Cherokee people had their homelands along its banks, especially in what are now East Tennessee and northern Alabama.
In addition, its tributary the Little Tennessee River, flows into it from Western North Carolina and northeastern Georgia, where it also was bordered by numerous Cherokee towns. Its current name is derived from the Cherokee town, Tanasi, which was located on the Tennessee side of the Appalachian Mountains.
The Tennessee River is formed at the confluence of the Holston and French Broad rivers in present-day Knoxville, Tennessee. From Knoxville, it flows southwest through East Tennessee into Chattanooga before crossing into Alabama. It travels through the Huntsville and Decatur area before reaching the Muscle Shoals area, and eventually forms a small part of the state's border with Mississippi, before returning to Tennessee.
The river misses Georgia by about 250 feet. The Tennessee river’s route northerly through Tennessee defines the boundary between two of Tennessee's Grand Divisions: Middle and West Tennessee.