Tennessee Valley

The Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River, stretching from southwest Kentucky to north Alabama and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina. The Tennessee River itself forms at the confluence of the French Broad and Holston rivers at Knoxville and eventually empties into the Ohio River in western Kentucky. The valley is bounded by the Appalachian Mountains to the east and the Cumberland Plateau to the northwest, and it gathers tributaries including the Little River, the Little Tennessee River, the Clinch River, the Hiwassee River and the Ocoee River. It contributes substantially to the shape of Tennessee's three legally recognized Grand Divisions.