• The name Cohutta is derived from the Cherokee word cohutta, which means "frog" designated in1975, expanded in 1986 consists of 36,977 acres
• approximately 35,268 acres in Georgia in the Chattahoochee National Forest
• approximately 1,709 acres in Tennessee in the Cherokee National Forest
• second-largest wilderness in Georgia.
• the Benton MacKaye Trail traverses the Wilderness borders the Big Frog Wilderness which is also located in Georgia and Tennessee location of the Conesauga River headwaters where the river starts as a small cold stream from a spring at 3,600 feet and flows north toward

 

The Conasauga River

the most westerly trout water on public land in Georgia

Contains rainbow trout up to 20 inches and wild browns up to 9 pounds

90 miles long and home to 90 species of fish and 25 species of freshwater mussels

The watershed encompasses over 500,000 acres in SE Tennessee and NW Georgia multiple counties and two ecologically different regions

 

Cherokee National Forest

Cherokee National Forest. The preserve covers over 95,000 acres (380 km2) and contains approximately 15 miles (24 km) of the Conasauga. (4.1 kg). The managed land is populated by white-tailed deer, wild hogs, , and smaller animals. The only road access to the Conasauga is found via Old GA 2. Access via foot trail is located on FS 64 in Betty Gap. Three other trails descend from the west off FS 17 to intersect the river trail. From south to north they are the Chestnut Lead, 2.0 miles (3.2 km), Tearbritches Trail, 4.0 miles (6.4 km), and Hickory Creek Trail, 3.0 miles (4.8 km). Primitive camping is allowed all along the river.

 

The Conasauga River is:

• Home to more than 90 fish species, including 12 Federally listed species of fish and mussels.
• Historically, home to 42 species of freshwater mussels, of which 25 species still exist. It is estimated that only 1% of original population remains.
• Category 1 priority watershed in the state’s Unified Watershed Assessment.
• 18 miles (29 km) of the river and 54 miles (87 km) of the tributaries are on Georgia’s List of Impaired Waters for fecal, metal, toxic chemical, sediment, and nutrients.
• One-third of the summer flow taken in vicinity of Dalton, Georgia, for carpet production.
• Contaminated with perfluorinated compounds used to make carpets stain-resistant.
• The only river in Tennessee not a part of the Mississippi River Watershed.