The Caney Fork of the Cumberland River

The Caney Fork River - Tributaries

The Caney Fork River has its start in a small stream north of Pleasant Hill in Cumberland County, meanders a little west of south, crossing Highway 70S 3 miles east of Pleasant Hill and continues generally south to Pilot Falls where it drops from the Cumberland Plateau into "The Gulf." The river then flows in a westerly direction thru "The Gulf" and emerges from between the high mountain walls at the lower end of Big Bottom, 26 miles up stream from Great Falls. It continues west 3 miles beyond the Falls and turns north continues with many a twist and turn to the Cumberland River a mile upstream the town of Carthage. The river flows in a gorge from the Great Falls for about 8 miles to below Franks Ferry when the valley opens up and there are many fine fertile farm lands. Of course many of these were flooded out when the Center Hill Dam was built.

Headwaters of many tributaries have their origin very close to the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau in Bledsoe, Grundy and Van Buren Counties. The Rocky and Collins Rivers also have their start on the Cumberland Plateau and flow in a northerly direction to the Caney Fork. The Barren Fork drains the eastern fringe of Coffee and Cannon Counties and enters the Collins River about 1 1/2 miles above the bridge on Highway 70S.

The Calfkiller River rises on the edge of Monterey, flows south and southwest to the upper Caney Fork. Falling Water rises within less than a mile of the Calfkiller and flows west to the Caney Fork entering about 33 miles below the Falls.

Tributaries in the following lists have been arranged beginning at the mouth of the river and listing upstream. Right and Left refer to the side of the river seen when facing downstream.

Caney Fork River Tributaries Below Great Falls Note: Numbers indicate order in which these tributaries appear if you are going upstream from the river's mouth near Carthage. However, "left" and "right" banks are determined by facing downstream.
Left Bank		Right Bank
Bluff Creek	2	1	Snow Creek
Mulhearn Creek	3	4	Mulberry Branch
Hickman Creek	6	5	Stonewall Branch
Boulton's Branch	7	9	Club Spring Branch
Smith Fork	8	10	Indian Creek
Long Branch	12	11	Null's Branch
Little Indian Creek	14	13	Wolf Creek
Holmes Creek	15	16	Second Creek
Hurricane Creek	17	18	Mine Lick Creek
Eagle Creek	20	19	Falling Water Creek
Fall Creek	21	22	Townsend Creek
Pine Creek	23	24	Cedar Creek
Sink Creek	26	25	Cliff Creek
Barren Creek	28	26	Rhode's Mill Branch
Mud Creek	29	27	Saw Mill Branch (Just above Frank's Ferry)

Caney Fork River Tributaries Above Great Falls Note: Numbers indicate in which order these tributaries appear if you are going upstream from the Great Falls Dam. However, "left" and "right" banks are determined by facing downstream.
Left Bank		Right Bank
Collins River	1
Rocky River (once called "Calhoun Creek")	2
Dry Branch (mentioned in 1811 deed)	3	4	Calfkiller River
Cane Creek	5	6	Lost Creek
Bee Creek	7	8	Clifty Creek
Note: Pilot Falls is upstream from Clifty Creek.
Big Laurel Creek	10	9	West Fork
Beam Creek	12	11	Polk Path Creek
		13	Hood Branch

Collins River Tributaries Note: Numbers indicate in which order these tributaries appear if you are going upstream from the mouth of the river. However, "left" and "right" banks are determined by facing downstream.
Left Bank		Right Bank
Mountain Creek	2	1	Mud Creek
Charles Creek (first known as "Chollee Creek")	3
Barren Fork	4
Gregory Creek	5	7	Cope Creek
Town Creek	6	8	Dry Spring Branch
Trayor Creek	10	9	Cove Creek
Rain Creek	12	11	Savage Creek

Barren Fork Tributaries Note: Numbers indicate in which order these tributaries appear if you are going upstream from the mouth of the river. However, "left" and "right" banks are determined by facing downstream.
Left Bank		Right Bank
		1	Hickory Creek
		2	Little Hickory Creek (1 mile north of Viola)
		3	Snelling Branch
		4	Mitchell Branch
Figgs Branch	6	5	South Prong

Rocky River Tributaries Note: Numbers indicate in which order these tributaries appear if you are going upstream from the mouth of the river. However, "left" and "right" banks are determined by facing downstream.
Left Bank		Right Bank
Dyer Gulch	2	1	Laurel Creek
Narrow Cove	3

Calfkiller River Tributaries Note: Numbers indicate in which order these tributaries appear if you are going upstream from the mouth of the river. However, "left" and "right" banks are determined by facing downstream.
Left Bank		Right Bank
Wild Cat Creek	2	1	Town Creek
Blue Spring Creek	3	4	Cherry Creek
Rutledge Creek	6	5	Plum Creek
Brush Creek	7	8	Mill Creek
Whetstone Creek	9
Brady Creek	10	11	Whilders Branch (arises in Monterey)

There are many other small streams and branches.
Some have names but the writer is not familiar with them.

Drainage Areas
Caney Fork River
At Mouth	2620 square miles
Buffalo Valley	2269 square miles
Center Hill Dam	2195 square miles
Silver Point	2100 square miles
Rock Island Dam	1640 square miles
Mouth of Bee Creek	269 square miles
Bee Creek	122 square miles
Cane Creek	169 square miles
Calfkiller River	181 square miles
Rocky River	111 square miles
Collins River
At Henderson Bridge	800 square miles
Hgw. 70S Bridge	624 square miles
Barren Fork	242 square miles
Falling Water	191 square miles
Smith Fork	216 square miles

**Notes From Other Sources - Not in Crouch's Book**
Source: Told to Wayne Haston (waynehaston@aol.com) by his great uncle, Bonnie V. Dycus of Sparta, TN, on December 26, 2003. At that time Mr. Dycus was 90+ years old. He grew up on, and lived most of his adult life on, the Caney Fork River. As a young man he lived in the area known as Big Bottom and, later, lived in Fox Hollow near where Lost Creek ("Wallace Creek") flows into the Caney Fork (across the river from and behind of the Fraiser's Chapel Methodist Church). These locations are only about a mile from each other in an area of southeastern White County, TN. Mary (Merry?) Branch is the stream that flows under the road just beyond the old "Charlie Davis place" (that is, just about 100 yards before the Big Bottom road makes a sharp left turn and goes up past the Ben White Cave toward the Lost Creek community). That would be approximately one mile east of the Mitchell Bridge. This would probably be the same stream that is called "Dry Creek" on some modern maps. Lost Creek sinks into the ground in the Lost Creek community area (mountain valley located in southeastern White County) and emerges out from the south side of Pine Mountain just above the Wallace Creek Bridge in a valley (hollow) that local residents have called Fox Hollow. Note: Mr. Crouch refers to this #6 tributary (into the Caney Fork above the Great Falls Dam) as "Lost Creek," which it is since it is a continuation of the creek that sinks from the mountain valley community of Lost Creek, on the other side of Pine Mountain. However, local people in that area have called the creek the Wallace Creek or Wallace Branch (so named for a Wallace family that lived on that creek for many years). Thus, this Wallace Creek is actually an extension of the Lost Creek that sinks up on the mountain in the Lost Creek community. Some of the water from Lost Creek also emerges behind where Mr. Dycus used to live and flowed into the river there (just below the Chattanooga Ford). According to Mr. Dycus, some people once put dye in Lost Creek and traced its water, from where it sinks to where it emerges.