The Elk River rises in
Grundy County, Tennessee, in Burroughs Cove near the community of Elkhead. It is bridged for the first time by
State Route 50 near
Pelham, Tennessee. At first it flows southwestward, and turns to flow more generally westward. It is then bridged by both
U.S. Route 41 and
Interstate 24. Shortly below this point, it forms the
Coffee County –
Franklin County line. It is first impounded by
Elk River Dam, forming
Woods Reservoir, the impoundment of which extends upstream to about the same point where the stream ceases to serve as the Coffee-Franklin County line and is entirely in Franklin County. This
reservoir was built under the auspices of the
United States Army Corps of Engineers, primarily to provide a large source of cooling water for the
U.S. Air Force's
Arnold Engineering Development Center, which has large
wind tunnels and other military and scientific research equipment. This area is also used as a wildlife refuge. The reservoir is bridged by
State Route 127. Only a few miles below
Elk River Dam is the beginning of slack water (
Tims Ford Lake) caused by the
Tims Ford Dam of the
Tennessee Valley Authority. The slack water extends upstream to the vicinity of
Estill Springs. It is then bridged by
U.S. Route 41A. Backwaters of the Tims Ford project also extend into the nearby town of
Winchester, county seat of Franklin County, even though the main channel of the Elk runs to its west, bridged by
State Route 130. A considerable amount of leakage from the reservoir is observed along State Route 50 in the form of what appear to be large springs along the north side of that road but are in fact leaking of the reservoir waters through the porous
limestone rock of the area. This phenomenon has resulted in a locally-popular source of water for livestock and other uses for which filtration and treatment of the water to be used is unnecessary. State Route 50 again crosses the Elk just below Tims Ford Dam. Shortly below the dam, the stream becomes the boundary between Franklin County and
Moore County, and then subsequently between Moore County and
Lincoln County. The stream begins to
meander severely. It is bridged near the small community of Kelso, site of a
cave used as a
saltpeter mine by
Confederates during the
Civil War, by
U.S. Route 64. The Elk flows through
Fayetteville about a mile south of the courthouse, where it is bridged by
U.S. Route 231/
431. Until the late 1960s there was a "dry" stone masonry
bridge (one in which the stones are held in place by the power of
gravity forcing them against each other, not mortar) over the Elk; it was destroyed in a
flood. Several miles west of Fayetteville, it is crossed by
State Route 274, a highway built on an old
railroad bed. It then crosses into
Giles County, where it is bridged by
CSX Transportation and
Interstate 65 before flowing just south of
Elkton, Tennessee, where it is bridged by
U.S. Route 31. A few miles below this point it crosses into
Limestone County, Alabama, where it meets the
Tennessee River. There are actually two Elk Rivers in Tennessee, the smaller of which is located in northeast Tennessee. This
Elk River flows from the back side of Beech Mountain, North Carolina through
Carter County, Tennessee and empties into Watauga Lake. ==Recreation==