The Deep River begins north of here near High Point and Jamestown and flows 125 miles through the rolling Piedmont hills past many forming mill towns. In Chatham County it joins the Haw River to become the Cape Fear River, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Wilmington. Its waters long powered mills along the river, beginning with grist mills in the early days and followed by cotton mills in the 1800s. Across the river are the remains of Franklinsville Manufacturing Company, first established in 1847; until it was destroyed by fire in 2010, it was the oldest standing water-powered cotton mill in the South. Mill workers and their families enjoyed company picnics on this property. Native American fishing weirs are still visible in the Deep River when water levels are low enough; made of rocks in V formations, they trapped fish so they could be scooped out more efficiently. The river is now a designated State Trail by the NC Division of Parks and Recreation, with plans for a trail connecting Randleman to Ramseur along the river, part of it as a rail trail, and paddlers can use access points in Randolph, Moore, and Chatham counties. The Deep River's clean waters also support rare aquatic species, especially the critically endangered Cape Fear shiner, as well as the Roanoke bass, Carolina redhorse, a variety of freshwater mussels, and the uncommon dragonfly septima's clubtail.