Savannah River

The Savannah River is a major river in the Southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of Georgia and South Carolina. The river flows from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, for a total distance of about 301 miles (484 km). The Savannah was formed by the confluence of the Tugaloo River and the Seneca River. Today this confluence is part of Lake Hartwell, a man-made reservoir constructed between 1955 and 1964. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form Georgia's northernmost border with South Carolina. A tributary of the Tugaloo, the Tallulah River, forms the northwest branch of the Savannah and features the two-mile-long (3 km) and almost 1,000-foot-deep (300 m) Tallulah Gorge. The Savannah River's drainage basin extends into the southeastern Appalachian Mountains and the state of North Carolina, and is bounded by the Eastern Continental Divide. Two major cities in Georgia are located along the Savannah River: Savannah and Augusta. Founded in 1733 and 1736, respectively, they were nuclei of early English settlements during the colonial period of American history. The Savannah River is tidal at the city of Savannah. Downstream from the city, the river broadens into an estuary before flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. The area where the river's estuary meets the ocean is known as Tybee Roads. The U.S. Intracoastal Waterway flows through a section of the Savannah River near the city proper.