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Photo of the water from Long Swamp Creek Recreation Area

Creeks, Lakes & Reservoirs

The Etowah is only as healthy as the streams that feed it. Meet the waterways of the Upper Etowah watershed.

The Etowah River rises in the mountains of Lumpkin County, northwest of Dahlonega, and flows about 98 miles to Lake Allatoona. Along the way, more than 100 creeks and streams join it, each draining its own corner of Lumpkin, Dawson, Pickens, Forsyth, and Cherokee counties.

Some of these creeks are among the last strongholds of fish found nowhere else on Earth, like the Etowah and Cherokee darters. Others supply drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people. All of them carry whatever happens on the land around them straight into the river.

Creeks, Streams, and Rivers

  • Edge of the World rapid on Amicalola Creek

    Amicalola Creek

    Home of Amicalola Falls and a stronghold of the endangered Etowah darter.

  • Crawford Falls on Shoal Creek in Dawson County, GA.

    Shoal Creek (Dawson County)

    A biodiversity hotspot flowing through Dawson Forest.

  • Yellow Creek waterfall where it meets Hollis Q Lathem Reservoir

    Yellow Creek

    The source of Hollis Q. Lathem Reservoir.

  • a deer standing in a small rapid at Long Swamp Creek

    Long Swamp Creek

    Rare darters, marble history, and a new county river park.

  • Sharp Mountain Creek in Ball Ground, GA

    Sharp Mountain Creek

    Flows past Ball Ground with endangered amber darters near its mouth.

  • Settingdown Creek sliding rocks at Pooles Mill Park in Forsyth County GA

    Settingdown Creek

    Named for a Cherokee leader; home to the Poole’s Mill covered bridge.

  • Smithwick Creek in Ballground GA

    Smithwick Creek

    A protected stream beside McGraw Ford WMA.

  • Donaldson's Furnace historic site by Shoal Creek

    Shoal Creek (Cherokee County)

    Flows from the Waleska area into Lake Allatoona. Home to the historic Donaldson’s Furnace.

  • Canton Creek at Marietta Rd in Canton GA

    Canton Creek

    A small creek flowing through downtown Canton, GA. It features a new trash trap installed by UERA.

  • Rope Mill ruins on the Little River

    Little River

    The largest stream feeding Lake Allatoona’s Little River arm

  • Toonigh Creek Falls

    Toonigh Creek

    A short creek with a waterfall at its mouth. It flows in to Lake Allatoona.

  • Noonday Creek

    A 20-mile-long tributary of the Little River in Cherokee County.

  • Historic Conns Creek schoolhuse by Conns Creek in Ballground GA

    Conns Creek

    a small, protected creek in McGraw Ford Wildlife Management Area in Ball Ground, GA.

  • Allatoona Creek at Allatoona Creek Park

    Allatoona Creek

    A creek flowing northwest through Cobb and Bartow counties that empties into the southwestern arm of Lake Allatoona.

  • Mill Creek

    Named after a historical watermill formerly located along its course.

  • Other Tributaries

    Headwater streams and smaller creeks worth knowing