While the Ocoee gets the whitewater headlines, the Hiwassee River north of Cleveland is the gentler, prettier of the two. It tumbles out of the Cherokee National Forest at Apalachia Powerhouse and runs through a deep wooded gorge to the town of Reliance, then opens out into trout-stocked tailwater below the dam. The 5-mile section above Reliance is one of the most popular tubing and Class I-II canoe floats in the southeast.
The Hiwassee is also designated a Tennessee State Scenic River and forms the centrepiece of Gee Creek Wilderness. Several outfitters in Reliance and along Highway 30 rent tubes, canoes and rafts; the Webb Brothers store has been outfitting floats since 1936.