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Home › Waters › Tennessee › Nolichucky River
River · Northeast Tennessee and the Unaka Mountains · Tennessee

Nolichucky River Fishing Guides

A steep Appalachian river that drops out of the Unaka gorge below Erwin and then flattens into first-rate smallmouth float water on its way to the French Broad.

Still water and rock ledges on a forested Appalachian river

Map of the Nolichucky River

42 numbered points: 2 campsites, 1 outfitter, 22 bridges, 4 parks and conservation areas, 2 agency offices, 8 hazards, 1 USGS gauge, 2 points of interest. Tap a marker for details. Reviewed Oct 23, 2026.

Printable version →
  • Campsite (2)
  • Outfitter / canoe rental (1)
  • Bridge crossing (22)
  • Park / conservation area (4)
  • Agency / conservation office (2)
  • Dam / hazard (8)
  • USGS gauge (1)
  • Point of interest (2)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Points are curated from OpenStreetMap and state agency sources; confirm access and hours before you go.

Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.

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All 42 points on this map
#PointTypeLat, LonNotes
1Last Chance
Nolichucky Gorge rapid		Dam / hazard36.08456, -82.35221Named rapid in the gorge below the state line.
2On the Rocks
Nolichucky Gorge rapid		Dam / hazard36.08355, -82.35570Named rapid in the main gorge run.
3Jaws
Nolichucky Gorge rapid		Dam / hazard36.08222, -82.35736Named rapid in the main gorge run.
4Quartermile Rapid
Nolichucky Gorge rapid		Dam / hazard36.07817, -82.36090The long rapid the gorge run is known for.
5Murphy's Ledge
Nolichucky Gorge rapid		Dam / hazard36.07771, -82.36365Ledge drop in the gorge.
6Roostertail Rapid
Nolichucky Gorge rapid		Dam / hazard36.07422, -82.37263Named rapid low in the gorge.
7Souse Hole
rapid below the gorge		Dam / hazard36.08439, -82.42370Named hole below the gorge. OSM carries two nodes with this name about 2.7 km apart; only this one sits on the channel.
8Nolichucky Gorge Campground and Cabins
river right above Erwin		Campsite36.09891, -82.43261Riverside campground at the gorge take-out; the usual base for the gorge run.
9Cowbell Rapid
rapid above Erwin		Dam / hazard36.10086, -82.44773Named rapid on the run out to Erwin.
10Nolichucky Hostel and Outfitter
Erwin, on the river		Outfitter / canoe rental36.10566, -82.44848Outfitter and hiker hostel on the bank where the Appalachian Trail meets the river.
11Jackson Love Highway
crossing at Erwin		Bridge crossing36.12342, -82.44327
12James H. Quillen Parkway
US 23 crossing at Erwin		Bridge crossing36.12648, -82.44389
13Eugene P. Price Kiwanis Park
Erwin town park		Park / conservation area36.14421, -82.42652Town park on the bank at Erwin, close to the gorge take-out.
14Erwin National Fish Hatchery
US Fish and Wildlife Service, 4.7 km off the river		Agency / conservation office36.16577, -82.38777Federal hatchery at Erwin, re-typed from its OSM aquaculture tag; the nearest federal fisheries office to this reach.
15Unicoi Wildlife Management Area
state wildlife management area		Park / conservation area36.16066, -82.45347Conservation land along the river, re-typed from its OSM protected-area tag.
16SR 81 / SR 107
crossing below Erwin		Bridge crossing36.17821, -82.45553
17Alfred A. Taylor Bridge
named highway bridge		Bridge crossing36.20716, -82.47348
18River View
riverside RV park		Campsite36.19664, -82.48475Private caravan park on the bank; mapped in OSM only as River View.
19Jackson Bridge Road
county crossing		Bridge crossing36.18006, -82.53447
20Bailey Bridge Road
county crossing		Bridge crossing36.15615, -82.59039
21Snapp Bridge Road
county crossing		Bridge crossing36.18570, -82.60881
22Corby Bridge Road
county crossing		Bridge crossing36.19326, -82.63253
23Smith Bridge Road
county crossing		Bridge crossing36.19683, -82.63793
24Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park
Tennessee State Parks		Park / conservation area36.20808, -82.65811State park on the river with camping and the best-known access on the middle river.
25Chuckey Pike
crossing at Chuckey		Bridge crossing36.20506, -82.68325
26Erwin Highway
crossing above Kinser Park		Bridge crossing36.15612, -82.72561
27Jones Bridge Road
crossing above the dam		Bridge crossing36.11724, -82.78151
28Old Asheville Highway
crossing above the dam		Bridge crossing36.08617, -82.82431
29Kinser Park
Greene County park above Nolichucky Dam		Park / conservation area36.08214, -82.85105County park and river frontage on the reach just above the dam.
30Nolichucky/Unaka Ranger Station
USDA Forest Service ranger district		Agency / conservation office36.08739, -82.87231Forest Service ranger station for the Nolichucky and Unaka districts, 1.5 km off the river.
31Nolichucky Dam
TVA dam at the head of Davy Crockett Lake		Point of interest36.06522, -82.86668Dam across the river below Kinser Park; the river is impounded above it.
32Asheville Highway
crossing at Nolichucky Dam		Bridge crossing36.06521, -82.86804
33West Allens Bridge Road
crossing below the dam		Bridge crossing36.05963, -82.90764
34Newport Highway
crossing on the lower river		Bridge crossing36.07042, -82.96642
35Poplar Springs Road
crossing on the lower river		Bridge crossing36.08255, -82.99344
36Bewleys Chapel Road
crossing on the lower river		Bridge crossing36.09703, -83.05058
37Knob Creek Road
crossing above Parrottsville		Bridge crossing36.12288, -83.12531
38Parrottsville Road
crossing at Parrottsville		Bridge crossing36.17697, -83.18511
39Enka Highway
SR 160 crossing near Lowland		Bridge crossing36.12703, -83.17597
40Enka Dam
weir on the lower river near Lowland		Point of interest36.14576, -83.21192Low weir spanning the lower river near Lowland, mapped in OSM as a weir.
41Spencer Hale Road
last crossing above the French Broad		Bridge crossing36.13000, -83.22008
42USGS 03467609 Nolichucky River near Lowland
Site 03467609		USGS gauge36.12633, -83.17530Live stage and discharge for this reach.

Guides on the Nolichucky River

Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.

Order on this page: premium and outfitter plans first (labelled Premium placement), then claimed free profiles, then unclaimed — one published price, no bidding for position. How placement works

About the Nolichucky River

The Nolichucky forms where the Toe and Cane rivers meet in North Carolina, cuts a deep gorge through the Unaka Mountains between Erwin and Poplar, then runs west across the valley of East Tennessee to join the French Broad above Douglas Lake. The USGS gauge near Lowland watches roughly seventeen hundred square miles and is the flow reference for the lower half of the river. It reports discharge and stage and carries no active temperature series, so the discharge reading is what a guide checks before committing to a day.

The river has two distinct personalities. The gorge above Erwin is serious whitewater, a remote Class III to IV run walled in by mountains and paralleled only by railroad track, and it is the province of commercial raft outfitters rather than anglers. Below Erwin the gradient eases, the river widens over gravel and ledge, and it turns into some of the most productive smallmouth float water in the region.

That lower water is what earns the Nolichucky its reputation with anglers. Smallmouth bass dominate, holding on ledges, shoals and current breaks, and drift-boat and raft trips work the reaches between Greeneville and the French Broad confluence. Rock bass and redbreast sunfish are constant company, walleye run the river in late winter, muskellunge are present in the lower reaches, and flathead and channel catfish occupy the deeper holes.

Flow is genuinely volatile. The Unaka headwaters shed rain fast, and the river can come up hard and muddy overnight, then drop back within a couple of days. Hurricane Helene remade long stretches of the channel and its access points in 2024, so local information on ramps and roads is worth confirming before a trip. Outfitters in Erwin and Greeneville run both the gorge and the lower float water, so a single call usually settles whether conditions favor whitewater or fishing on a given weekend.

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Posting to Nolichucky River.

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The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Flow alert

Tell me when the Nolichucky River cfs

Now: 593 cfs, read 6:30 am CST, Mon Nov 2, 2026 (USGS 03467609, NOLICHUCKY RIVER NEAR LOWLAND).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Lowland gauge vicinity - the flow reference for the lower river.
Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park, Limestone - camping and river access on the middle reach.
Chuckey and Highway 107 crossing - a common float put-in.
Erwin and the Nolichucky Gorge takeout - the end of the commercial whitewater run.
Greeneville area accesses - road-supported launches on the smallmouth water.
French Broad confluence near Douglas Lake - the downstream end of the float water.
Jackson Bridge access - middle-river put-in and takeout.

Seasons

Spring: high and often muddy from mountain rain; excellent when it drops and clears.
Summer: the core smallmouth float season, with low clear water and reliable wading.
Fall: stable low flows, cooling water and the best smallmouth fishing of the year.
Winter: cold and prone to hard rises; walleye run and musky fishing picks up.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Nolichucky River?

As of Nov 2, 6:30 am, the USGS gauge NOLICHUCKY RIVER NEAR LOWLAND reads 593 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Nolichucky River?

Anglers target Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Muskellunge, Redbreast Sunfish, Rock Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye on the Nolichucky River in Tennessee.

Are there fishing guides on the Nolichucky River?

GuidedFloats lists 1 guide and outfitters on the Nolichucky River. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.

Where can you access the Nolichucky River?

Lowland gauge vicinity - the flow reference for the lower river. Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park, Limestone - camping and river access on the middle reach. Chuckey and Highway 107 crossing - a common float put-in. Erwin and the Nolichucky Gorge takeout - the end of the commercial whitewater run. Greeneville area accesses - road-supported launches on the smallmouth water. French Broad confluence near Douglas Lake - the downstream end of the float water. Jackson Bridge access - middle-river put-in and takeout.

When is the best time to fish the Nolichucky River?

Spring: high and often muddy from mountain rain; excellent when it drops and clears. Summer: the core smallmouth float season, with low clear water and reliable wading. Fall: stable low flows, cooling water and the best smallmouth fishing of the year. Winter: cold and prone to hard rises; walleye run and musky fishing picks up.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Nolichucky River?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Tennessee agency site: https://www.tn.gov/twra/fishing-regs.html