Along with covering a stretch of the Little Tennessee, Fontana Lake also extends across the lower of the Tuckasegee River (which flows southward from Cherokee and Bryson City), and the lower or so of the Nantahala River, extending into the scenic Nantahala Gorge. Several rapid-flowing mountain streams— some of which drop several thousand feet from the crest of the Great Smokies in just a few miles— empty into Fontana's north shore. The most notable of these streams — Eagle Creek and Hazel Creek — form substantial embayments just upstream from the dam.