Tellico Plains, Tennessee

Tellico Grains Bakery (pictured right) is located in the small mountain community of Tellico Plains in Tennessee. Turn back the hands of time and enjoy a simpler pace of life, while savoring bakery treats as freshly baked breads from our wood-fired brick oven, local artists' galleries of fine arts and crafts, and a candlelight Christmas walk for the tree lighting in Town Square. The beauty of rolling hillside farms, weathered barns and lazily grazing cattle await your discovery.

The town is located on the Tellico River near the location where the river emerges from the higher peaks of the Appalachian Mountains and into the less rugged Ridge-and-valley Appalachians. Tellico Plains is a town in Monroe County, Tennessee with a population of 859 at the 2000 census.

Tellico Plains occupies the former site of the Cherokee town of Great Tellico (Telliquah), which was one of the more important towns of the Cherokee during the 18th century. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Tellico Plains became the base of operations for logging operations of the Tellico River basin, conducted by the Babcock Lumber Company.

• Annual Avg. Temperature: 58°
• Monthly Avg. High Temp: Jan 46° - July 90°
• Monthly Avg. Low Temp: Jan 25°- July 68°
• Annual Avg. Precipitation: 59
• Annual Avg. Snowfall: 8
• Elevation: 1,110' above sea level
• Prevailing Winds: Southwest
• Mean Length of Freeze Free Period (Days): 218

Cherohala Skyway and Cherokee National Forest

The Cherohala Skyway (TN 165), a 43-mile national scenic byway which climbs over 4,500 ft in elevation. Tellico Plains is the western gateway to the Skyway, which travels over the mountains of southeast Tennessee into North Carolina. The road passes through the lush rugged mountains of the Cherokee and Nantahala National Forests, and diverse habitats of Tennessee's eastern border... home to an amazing variety of wildlife. Picnic along the rocky bed of the Tellico River or in a high mountain pasture a short hike off the Skyway, where diverse ecosystems thrive.

The 640,000-acre Cherokee National Forest is the largest tract of public land in Tennessee, home to more than 20,000 species of plants and animals. The mountain forest abounds with scenic beauty, nature and history, lying in the heart of the Southern Appalachian mountain range, and including peaks of the Smoky Mountains. Recreational opportunities are plentiful, with campsites, hiking trails, picnic areas, scenic overlooks, swimming holes, streams, rivers and abundant wildlife...and it could be right in your own backyard.

The Tellico River offers great trout fishing, swimming, canoeing, kayaking, tubing, and relaxing by its meandering shoreline, with tumbling rocky cascades, deep pools, and a canopy of lush greenery.

Trout habitat requirements include water temperatures below 68 degrees, heavy oxygenation and clean, clear water, and these conditions prevail in the Tellico River corridor.

Bald River and North River, tributaries of the Tellico, are managed as wild trout streams with brown, rainbow and brook trout. Fishermen here enjoy unspoiled wilderness settings and, more often than not, no company from other anglers. Dramatically beautiful Bald River Falls cascades over 80 feet, easily viewed from the roadside, where this tributary joins the Tellico River, and upriver from the falls you are likely to be rewarded with rainbows and browns. These wild trout streams usually lack large individuals, but some brown trout as large as 10 pounds have been caught in the North River.

For detailed fly-fishing information, photos, and maps of the Tellico River trout waters, visit Telliquah Outfitters.

• Tellico Plains Area Chamber of Commerce