The Tennessee Valley is a large valley created by the Tennessee River and is within much of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southern Kentucky to northwest Georgia and from northern Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina.

Tennessee Valley is also a generally accepted term for the northern fifth of Alabama, anchored by the city of Huntsville.

Geography

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The Tennessee Valley begins in the upper head water portions of northeast Tennessee, and travels southwest into North Alabama. The roughly 150 mile (240 km) stretch within Tennessee is bound on the east by the Appalachian Mountains (including the Great Smoky Mountains) and on the west by the Cumberland Plateau and Cumberland Mountains. Near Chattanooga, Tennessee, the Tennessee River cuts though the Cumberland Plateau creating a canyon called the Tennessee River Gorge before it enters northern Alabama. The 100 mile (160 km) Alabama stretch of the valley runs mainly west before turning back north and re-entering Tennessee. In Alabama, the valley is bound on the north by the southern end of the Cumberland Plateau. On the south it is bound by the southern end of the Appalachians.

The valley continues back north into Tennessee, creating the dividing line between Middle Tennessee and West Tennessee, eventually reaching to the Ohio River.

Geologically, the Tennessee Valley consists of many small valleys and ridges within a great valley. The Region in termed the Ridge and Valley Province.

Important Tennessee Valley cities

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• Knoxville, Tennessee is where the Tennessee River begins at the confluence of the Holston and the French Broad Rivers. Here, the Tennessee Valley is sometimes called the Volunteer Valley.

• Chattanooga, Tennessee is nicknamed "The Scenic City" for its vistas of the Tennessee Valley from atop the many mountaintops that surround the city. It includes the American Civil War Battle of Chattanooga on Lookout Mountain.

• Elizabethton, Tennessee (located within Carter County) is a smaller-sized Tennessee city formerly known by the moniker "The City of Power"prior to the post World War II era of atomic power production. It is located at the confluence of the Doe River and Watauga River immediately downstream of the Watauga Reservoir and the Wilbur Reservoir. Both are maintained by the Tennessee Valley Authority.

• Decatur, Alabama, "The River City", historically dominated the economic landscape of north Alabama. Its mixture of river transport and rail access has made it a busy hub of business, commerce, and manufacturing flowing down the river on the barges and boats of numerous companies and docking at the Port of Decatur.

• Huntsville, Alabama has risen to be the center of north Alabama economic activity since the dawn of the space age in the 1950s. Its aerospace and military technology centers of Redstone Arsenal, Cummings Research Park, and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center define the high-tech landscape for the state of Alabama.

Transportation

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• Interstate 40 Runs East-West across the Tennessee portion, of the Tennessee Valley. Connecting Nashville, Tennessee with Knoxville, Tennessee and Asheville, North Carolina
• Interstate 65 is the main North-South road in the area, connecting Birmingham and Nashville. (Interstate 565/AL-20 connects Decatur and Huntsville and provides both cities access to I-65)
• Interstate 75 Runs down the middle of the Valley of East Tennessee. Connecting Atlanta, Georgia to Chattanooga, Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee.

Airports

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• Huntsville International Airport, Huntsville, Alabama
• Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport, Chattanooga, Tennessee
• McGhee Tyson Airport, Alcoa, Tennessee (serves the Knoxville, Tennessee metropolitan area)

See also

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• Tennessee Valley Authority

Regions of Alabama | Geography of Tennessee | Valleys of the United States