Bryson City is located just west of the confluence of the Tuckasegee River, which flows westward from its source in the mountains to the east, and Deep Creek, which flows south from its source near Newfound Gap in the Great Smoky Mountains. After flowing around the Bryson City Island Park, and passing through Bryson City, the Tuckasegee flows southwestward for another before emptying into the Little Tennessee River. Fontana Lake, an impoundment of the Little Tennessee, covers the lower of the Tuckasegee.