NANTAHALA RIVER

river rising in the Nantahala Mountains southwest of Asheville, N.C., U.S., near the GeorgiaNorth Carolina line. It flows 40 miles (64 km) north through the Nantahala National Forest. Nantahala Dam (1942) impounds Nantahala Lake, sometimes called Aquone Lake. Farther north, the river cuts an 8-mile- (13-kilometre-) long scenic gorge with sides up to 2,000 feet (610 m) high. Nantahala Gorge is the subject of many Cherokee Indian legends and gave the river its name, which means the place where only the noonday sun can shine. The river empties into Fontana Lake on the Little Tennessee River.