Photo by Alan Cressler via Flickr. Location: Flint River, Pasley Shoals, Sprewell Bluff Park, Upson and Talbot Counties, Georgia.
The Flint River originates in the Atlanta metro area and flows through highly productive agricultural land before joining the Chattahoochee. The Flint is approximately 349 miles long and is one of the only rivers in the U.S. to flow over 200 miles unimpeded. The basin drains over 8,400 square miles of land, from city blocks to swamps, across southwestern Georgia. The river has had many names, but all were based on the riverbed’s geology: first called the Thronateeska by Woodland tribes, meaning “flint picking-up place,” then the Hlonotiskahachi by the Muscogee, Hlonoto meaning “flint,” and even later the Rio Perdernales by the Spanish, pedernal also meaning “flint.” Continue exploring the Flint below.
CONSERVATION
The Flint basin is the focus of multiple river conservation groups:
- Flint Riverkeeper
- American Rivers Upper Flint River Working Group
- Lake Blackshear Watershed Association
- Line Creek Association of Fayette County
- Spring Creek Watershed Partnership
View USGS data on the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) Basin.
Explore EPD’s Flint River Basin Plan for development and conservation, completed in 2006.
Learn about the EPD’s Fish Consumption Advisories online in the Guidelines for Eating Fish from Georgia’s Waters.
Photo by Alan Cressler via Flickr. Location: Flint River, Gibson Island, Talbot and Upson Counties, Georgia.
RECREATION
Visit the Flint Riverquarium for a unique aquarium experience focused on the biodiversity, natural history, and wildlife of the Flint River Basin.
Other parks and recreation areas: Sprewell Bluff Park
Photo by Alan Cressler via Flickr. Location: Big Lazer Creek, Big Lazer Creek Wildlife Management Area, Talbot County, Georgia.
EDUCATION
Learn more about the Flint, along with Georgia’s other amazing rivers, at Georgia Rivers or American Rivers.
Read about the history of one of the longest inhabited river basins in Georgia at Flint Riverkeeper, or visit the Flint Riverquarium in Albany, GA.
Learn all about the Flint River at New Georgia Encyclopedia.
Explore Georgia State-Protected species by watershed at the Georgia Biodiversity Portal.
Photo by Alan Cressler via Flickr.
Map of the Flint River Basin. Created by Anna Baynes (UGA River Basin Center).