Rocky River (Tennessee)

The Rocky River is a 31.0-mile-long (49.9 km) tributary of the Caney Fork of the Cumberland River in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Via the Caney Fork and the Cumberland and Ohio rivers, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed.

The Rocky River rises on the Cumberland Plateau in Van Buren County, Tennessee near the community of Chalybeate. Entering a steep cove, it receives some surface tributary water and more from large springs along its course. Shortly south of Tennessee State Route 30 it becomes the boundary between Van Buren and Warren counties. Over the last few miles of its course the river becomes slack as it is impounded by Great Falls Dam on the Caney Fork. The mouth of the Rocky River into the Caney Fork is the site of a corner among Van Buren, Warren, and White counties. The upper portion of the course is through rock of the Pennsylvanian Period, primarily sandstones. The lower portion is in the limestone of the Highland Rim, predominantly of the Mississippian Period.