Visitor directory
Monroe County directory
Madisonville, Sweetwater, Tellico Plains and Vonore: the Overhill Cherokee homeland on Tellico Lake, Fort Loudoun and Sequoyah’s birthplace, and the Cherohala Skyway climbing into the Cherokee National Forest.
Cities: Madisonville (county seat) · Sweetwater (also McMinn) · Tellico Plains · Vonore (also Blount)
Communities: Tellico Village (also Loudon) · Rarity Bay (also Loudon) · Coker Creek · Rural Vale · Ballplay · Notchey Creek · Citico · Christianburg
Official tourism, parks & attractions
Tourism
- Visit Monroe TN (Monroe County Department of Tourism) ↗Official county tourism, with a welcome center at 225 Cherohala Skyway, Tellico Plains · 423-253-8010. Events are listed under Events.
- Monroe County Chamber of Commerce ↗Chamber site with a business directory and community calendar · (423) 442-4588.
- Downtown Madisonville (Main Street) ↗Downtown events, including Lighting of the Square and the Christmas Festival.
Parks & outdoors
- Cherohala Skyway (Visit Monroe) ↗The 43-mile scenic byway from Tellico Plains into North Carolina.
- Cherohala Skyway (U.S. Forest Service) ↗National Scenic Byway through the Cherokee National Forest. Check the page for closures.
- Bald River Falls (U.S. Forest Service) ↗Roadside waterfall on the Tellico River above Tellico Plains.
- Indian Boundary Recreation Area (U.S. Forest Service) ↗Lake, loop trail and campground off the Skyway (seasonal).
- Cherokee National Forest ↗Forest trails, rivers and campgrounds across eastern Monroe County.
- Waterfalls (Visit Monroe) ↗County waterfall guide.
- Boating (Visit Monroe) ↗Tellico Lake and the Little Tennessee.
- Tellico Dam (TVA) ↗TVA dam (in Loudon County) whose lake runs up the Little Tennessee past Vonore.
Attractions
- Fort Loudoun State Historic Park ↗The reconstructed 1756 British fort at 338 Fort Loudoun Rd, Vonore, with garrison weekends. Closed to the public Sat Nov 14 for a hunt.
- Sequoyah Birthplace Museum ↗Museum of Sequoyah and the Cherokee at 576 TN-360, Vonore · 423-884-6246.
- The Roots of Tennessee: Tanasi & Chota (Visit Monroe) ↗The Overhill Cherokee town sites and memorials on Tellico Lake.
- The Lost Sea Adventure ↗Cave tour and boat ride on a large underground lake near Sweetwater.
- Charles Hall Museum & Heritage Center ↗Free local-history museum at 229 Cherohala Skyway, Tellico Plains, open daily 10–5.
- Coker Creek Heritage Group & Welcome Center ↗The 1830s gold-rush community near the North Carolina line.
- Gold panning (Visit Monroe) ↗Where to try panning around Coker Creek.
- Unicoi Turnpike (Visit Monroe) ↗The old trade path over the mountains.
Government
- Monroe County government ↗Official county site: offices, commission, EMS, emergency management · 105 College St, Madisonville.
- City of Madisonville ↗County seat: city hall, police, fire and gas.
- City of Sweetwater ↗City services and visitor information (also reaches into McMinn County).
- Town of Tellico Plains ↗Town information and events.
- Town of Vonore ↗Town hall, parks and agendas (a small part of town is in Blount County).
Local resources
- Emergency (police · fire · EMS)911Call 911 for any emergency.
- Monroe County Sheriff’s Office(423) 442-3911Madisonville · Sheriff Jim Kile ⓘ source
- Madisonville Police Department423-442-2268101 Tellico Street North, Madisonville ⓘ source
- Sweetwater Police Department423-337-6151City of Sweetwater ⓘ source
- Tellico Plains Police Department423-253-2030405 Veterans Memorial Drive, Tellico Plains ⓘ source
- Vonore Police Department423-884-2480Town of Vonore ⓘ source
- Monroe County Emergency Management423-519-7100310 Tellico St, Madisonville: storm and disaster info ⓘ source
- Monroe County EMS (business office)(423) 442-4063310 Tellico Street South, Madisonville · stations in Madisonville, Sweetwater, Tellico Plains and Vonore ⓘ source
- Sweetwater Hospital423-337-6171304 Wright Street, Sweetwater (emergency room) · main (865) 213-8200 ⓘ source
- Monroe County Health Department(423) 442-39933469 New Highway 68, Suite A, Madisonville ⓘ source
- Monroe County Schools(423) 442-2373District site, calendars and closings ⓘ source
- Sweetwater City Schools(423) 337-7051220 South Clark Street, Sweetwater ⓘ source
- Madisonville Public LibraryOne of four city libraries in the county ⓘ source
- Sweetwater · Tellico Plains · Vonore public librariesSweetwater Public Library · Tellico Plains Public Library · Vonore Public Library ⓘ source
- Monroe County Election Commission423-442-2461401 Main St, Madisonville · Election Day Tue Nov 3, 8 AM–8 PM ⓘ source
- Highway emergency (cell)*THP (*847)Tennessee Highway Patrol ⓘ source
Checked Oct 28, 2026 · official sites only · phone numbers copied from each agency’s own page — tap ⓘ to confirm. In an emergency, call 911.
Area news
Headlines from local outlets · Monroe County
The 44th Sweetwater Christmas Parade is Friday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. It forms on Mayes Avenue and ends at Sweetwater High School.
Read at The Advocate & Democrat →Sweetwater Police Chief Eddie Byrum is marking 25 years as chief and 36 years in law enforcement, all but a few months of it in Sweetwater.
Read at The Advocate & Democrat →Ground was broken Oct. 19 on SouthPoint Business Park, a 150-acre industrial site at I-75 exit 60 in Sweetwater. The first two buildings are slated to open in 2027.
Read at The Advocate & Democrat →Madisonville's Good Shepherd Center, which helps more than 650 Monroe County families a year, won a $1,000 Bowater Credit Union Pay It Forward grant.
Read at The Advocate & Democrat →The Sequoyah Birthplace Museum in Vonore received a $34,545 state grant to repaint and repair its entrance poles, amphitheater and pavilion.
Read at The Advocate & Democrat →The Tellico Area Services System broke ground in Vonore on a $27 million water plant expansion that will raise capacity to 10 million gallons a day, with no rate increase planned.
Read at The Advocate & Democrat →Downtown Tellico Plains is turning into a destination of its own, with new local businesses and a revitalization effort that has run across several town administrations.
Read at WATE 6 On Your Side →About 10 million people travel the 43-mile Cherohala Skyway each year, and Monroe County's tourism director says summer has now overtaken fall as the busiest season.
Read at WATE 6 On Your Side →
Short summaries in our words — tap through to read the full story at the outlet. All area news → · Outlet requests: [email protected]
A short history
The Tennessee General Assembly created Monroe County in 1819 from land that had belonged to the Overhill Cherokees, and named it for President James Monroe. Along the Little Tennessee River stood Toqua, a large Mississippian-period village; Great Tellico, visited by South Carolina traders in the late 1600s; Tanasi, the Cherokee political center of the early 1700s; and Chota, the principal town by the mid-1750s. Fort Loudoun, the first permanent English settlement in present-day Tennessee, went up on the river in 1756–57, and Sequoyah, who created the Cherokee syllabary, was born at nearby Tuskegee. The federal Tellico Blockhouse followed in 1794.
Placer gold drew miners to Coker Creek in the early 1830s, Tennessee’s first major gold diggings. Madisonville became the county seat; its Classical Revival courthouse (1897) still anchors the square, and Hiwassee College was founded there in 1849. Sweetwater grew on the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad and became a Confederate supply depot in 1863; it was home to the Tennessee Military Institute, and the Lost Sea cave lies east of town. Tellico Plains was a logging and industrial town of the early 1900s and is now the western gateway to the Cherohala Skyway.
TVA’s Tellico Dam, finished in 1979 after the snail darter fight, flooded the Overhill town sites; memorials to Tanasi and Chota stand on the lakeshore, and Fort Loudoun and the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum sit beside it at Vonore. About 145,000 acres of the county lie in the Cherokee National Forest, including Bald River Falls on the Tellico River.
Towns & communities
- Madisonville — county seat; the 1897 courthouse square
- Sweetwater (also McMinn) — railroad town and largest city; the Lost Sea nearby
- Tellico Plains — old logging town at the foot of the Cherohala Skyway
- Vonore (also Blount) — Tellico Lake town by Fort Loudoun and the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum
- Coker Creek — 1830s gold-rush community in the national forest
- Tellico Village & Rarity Bay (communities, also Loudon) — lake communities on Tellico Lake
Our place stories in and near Monroe County
- Townsend — the Smokies, an hour north
Go deeper
- Tanasi: the town that named Tennessee — and the TVA waters
- How the World Was Made — a Cherokee account
Neighboring counties: Blount County · Loudon County · McMinn County · Polk County · All counties →
Official visitor links
Checked Oct 27, 2026 · hours, fees and events live on these pages.
Videos
Sources
Checked Oct 27, 2026 · We summarize; follow these for the full history. No hours or fees on this page — check official sites before you go.
- Tennessee Encyclopedia — Monroe County (Carroll Van West) ↗
- UT CTAS — Monroe County profile ↗
- UT MTAS — Madisonville ↗
- UT MTAS — Sweetwater ↗
- UT MTAS — Tellico Plains ↗
- UT MTAS — Vonore ↗
- U.S. Census 2020 place-by-county (TN) ↗
- Visit Monroe — The Roots of Tennessee ↗
- TVA — Tellico ↗
- Monroe County — Enforcement & Emergency (phone numbers) ↗