Beech Flats Prong is a stream formed by the convergence of several spring outlets high in the Appalachians near Newfound Gap, a mountain pass that straddles the Tennessee-North Carolina border in the center of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The creek flows about south where it merges with Smith Branch, Kepharts Prong, and the Kanati Fork to form the Oconaluftee River. The river continues south, where it is joined by the Bradley Fork, greatly strengthening its flow. A large, flat bottomland is created by the river's confluence with the Raven Fork at Cherokee, where the river turns westward, flowing to its mouth on the Tuckasegee River, near Bryson City in Swain County, North Carolina. The Oconaluftee passes through the settlements of Smokemount, the Oconaluftee Village and Hospital, the town of Cherokee, Indian Hills, and Birdtown before emptying into the Tuckasegee.