The Shallotte River is a tidal river on the Brunswick County coast of North Carolina, rising in tributaries of the Green Swamp near Shallotte and flowing south about nine miles to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Its basin includes swamp drainage, farmland, forests, and semi-developed rural land. Near its lower end, shifting sands, tides, and Shallotte Inlet have altered the shoreline and the river’s former mouth. Long difficult to navigate because waves, surf, and moving sediments keep the channel shallow, it was dredged in 1929 and again from 1966 to 1969, yet access remained limited mainly to small boats. Its name has been recorded since at least 1734.