Hanging Dog Creek

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Hanging Dog Creek is a small stream in Cherokee County, North Carolina, United States. It flows for about 14.6 miles from its headwaters in the Hyatt Creek divide near Hanging Dog Gap to its mouth at the Hiawassee River near Hiawassee Lake. The source sits at about 3,450 feet above sea level, and the mouth is around 1,525 feet elevation. The watershed cover is roughly 40.9 square miles. The creek is part of the Hiawassee River system, which eventually leads to the Tennessee River, then the Ohio River, the Mississippi River, and finally the Gulf of Mexico.

Left tributaries include Will Creek, Augen Branch, Grindstone Branch, Davis Creek, Cook Creek, and Dockery Creek. Right tributaries are Bear Creek, Owl Creek, and Bates Creek.

The name Hanging Dog may come from a Cherokee phrase meaning Hanging Maw, or from a story about a dog that got caught in river debris but was rescued.