Protecting clean water is a community effort. Join us to volunteer, report issues, and advocate for healthier rivers across Western North Carolina.
of trash cleaned since Hurricane Helene
of streams, rivers, and lakefronts protected
After Hurricane Helene, our rivers were left choked with plastic, litter, and trash that threaten wildlife, water quality, and recreation. MountainTrue is partnering with the State of North Carolina to clean it up — creating good jobs, supporting local communities, and restoring our rivers. Whether you want to work, volunteer, or get help as a landowner, this is your place to start.
Check if your local river or lake is safe for swimming
With the Swim Guide website and app, you can easily find out if your local waters are safe for swimming.
Powered by data collected by your local Riverkeepers, Swim Guide provides real-time insights on water safety — like which areas have elevated E. coli levels or pollution — all in an easy-to-use interactive map.
From May to September, MountainTrue riverkeepers and volunteers collect weekly water samples from the Broad, French Broad, Elk, Green, Hiwassee, Little Tennessee, Nantahala, New, Nottely, and Watauga river watersheds.
This data not only lets you know where it’s safe to swim on the weekend — it also helps us track down pollution sources. We use our testing data to track down sources of bacterial pollution and push for better policies to address the long-term issues affecting our rivers, lakes, and streams.
MountainTrue’s water quality program is powered by our volunteers, members, and donors like you.
“Because, just as the river belongs to no one, it belongs to everyone – and everyone is held accountable for its health and condition.”
– Wilma Dykeman
The French Broad River Paddle Trail℠ is a product of routine collaboration and partnership between a variety of government agencies and non-profits working across the watershed to collectively steward, restore, and celebrate the river.
The paddle trail facilitates the public access to and camping on over 140 miles of the French Broad River, from the headwaters in Rosman, North Carolina to Douglas Lake in Tennessee.
We built a whole website to make it easy for everyone to enjoy the paddle trail. To learn about the River, Access Points, Campsites and more, visit FrenchBroadPaddle.com
MountainTrue works to restore and preserve our waterways as healthy ecosystems. Our Riverkeepers are the primary guardians of their respective river basins and our members and volunteers maintain the health of our waterways by monitoring pollution and cleaning up our rivers and streams.
We regularly compile robust reports called the State of Our Rivers Report.
The reports combine a year’s worth of data collected by staff and volunteers with other publicly available datasets to provide readers with a deeper understanding of the health of our rivers, lakes, and streams.
MountainTrue is headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina, and we have regional offices in Boone, Saluda, and Murphy. Our service area includes 24 counties in western North Carolina, Carter and Johnson counties in eastern Tennessee, and Towns and Union counties in northern Georgia.
We are proud members of Waterkeepers Carolina and Waterkeepers Alliance — Nonprofit Organizations dedicated to safeguarding waterways worldwide.
