Tennessee Valley Divide

The Tennessee River drainage basin begins with its tributaries in southwestern Virginia and flows generally west to the confluence of the Tennessee with the Ohio River at Paducah, Kentucky.

The Tennessee Valley Divide forms a loop surrounding the drainage basin, beginning and ending at the river's mouth in Paducah.

Following the Divide in a clockwise direction, it leads east and southeast through western Kentucky through the Land Between the Lakes, a narrow area between the Tennessee River and Cumberland River, then passes into Tennessee, where it continues southeast, passing south of the Nashville Basin on top of Duck River Ridge.

Finally, there is a divide with Massac Creek, which drains into the Ohio River.

[1][5] It ends at the foot of Broadway in downtown Paducah, Kentucky, which also marks Mile 0 of the Tennessee River at its confluence with the Ohio.