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East Tennessee’s Lakes

Houseboats, coves, trout water and long summer evenings on the reservoirs TVA built.

Almost every big lake in East Tennessee is a reservoir behind a Tennessee Valley Authority dam, built from the 1930s on to control floods, make power and bring work to the valley. Each one has its own feel — clear and deep like Norris, mountain-ringed like Douglas or Watauga, or broad river lakes like Watts Bar and Chickamauga. Every lake below has its own guide. For the river they belong to, start with the Tennessee River & its lakes.

Every lake, with its own guide

1933Congress creates TVA [S1]
1936Norris Dam, TVA’s first, is finished [S2]
Knoxvillewhere the Holston & French Broad form the Tennessee [S4]
DailyTVA posts lake levels & flows [S5]
Norris Lake

Clinch & Powell · Anderson / Campbell / Union

Norris Lake

TVA’s first dam (1936). Clear water, hundreds of miles of wooded shoreline, houseboats and Norris Dam State Park.

Read the lake guide →
Douglas Lake

French Broad · Sevier / Jefferson

Douglas Lake

French Broad lake with Smokies views, crappie fishing and easy reach from Sevierville and Dandridge.

Read the lake guide →
Cherokee Lake

Holston · Hamblen / Grainger / Jefferson

Cherokee Lake

Big Holston River lake around Morristown with bass fishing, islands and quiet campgrounds.

Read the lake guide →
Fort Loudoun Lake

Tennessee River · Knox / Loudon / Blount

Fort Loudoun Lake

The first lake on the Tennessee River itself, from downtown Knoxville to Lenoir City.

Read the lake guide →
Tellico Lake

Little Tennessee · Loudon / Monroe

Tellico Lake

The Little Tennessee below the mountains, with Fort Loudoun State Historic Area and Sequoyah’s birthplace on its shore.

Read the lake guide →
Melton Hill Lake

Clinch · Anderson / Knox / Roane

Melton Hill Lake

A narrow Clinch River lake by Oak Ridge, best known for rowing races and calm paddling.

Read the lake guide →
Watts Bar Lake

Tennessee River · Roane / Rhea / Meigs

Watts Bar Lake

A long, wide Tennessee River lake around Kingston and Fort Southwest Point.

Read the lake guide →
Chickamauga Lake

Tennessee River · Hamilton / Meigs / Rhea

Chickamauga Lake

Big bass water from Dayton down to Chattanooga, with Harrison Bay State Park.

Read the lake guide →
Nickajack Lake

Tennessee River · Marion / Hamilton

Nickajack Lake

Below Chattanooga through the river gorge, with the Nickajack Cave bat colony.

Read the lake guide →
Boone Lake

Sullivan / Washington

Boone Lake

Tri-Cities lake where the South Fork Holston and Watauga meet.

Read the lake guide →
South Holston Lake

Sullivan County

South Holston Lake

Clear, deep mountain lake reaching into Virginia, with famous trout water below the dam.

Read the lake guide →
Watauga Lake

Carter / Johnson

Watauga Lake

High mountain lake in the Cherokee National Forest, with the Appalachian Trail crossing the dam.

Read the lake guide →
Cove Lake

Campbell County

Cove Lake

A small state-park lake at Caryville, just off I-75, with geese, a paved trail and picnic spots.

Read the lake guide →
Fontana Lake

North Carolina · Smokies gateway

Fontana Lake

Across the line in North Carolina, the lake that borders the Smokies’ south side.

Read the lake guide →

The Tennessee River

The Tennessee River begins at Knoxville, where the Holston and French Broad rivers meet, then runs southwest past Lenoir City, Kingston, Dayton and Chattanooga before bending into Alabama. [S4] A chain of dams turns it into a string of lakes: Fort Loudoun, Watts Bar, Chickamauga and Nickajack. Tributary lakes — Norris, Melton Hill, Cherokee, Douglas, Tellico, Boone, South Holston and Watauga — sit on the rivers that feed it.

Read the full story on our Tennessee River page, and see Chattanooga’s riverfront on the Chattanooga page.

From our shop · My East Tennessee

Take the lake home

See every souvenir in the shop →

How TVA made the lakes

In the early 1930s, much of the Tennessee Valley had no electricity, eroded farms and regular floods. In May 1933, Congress created the Tennessee Valley Authority as part of the New Deal. Its first project, Norris Dam on the Clinch River, was finished in 1936, along with the planned town of Norris. [S1][S2]

Over the next decades TVA built dams on the main river and its tributaries. Thousands of families were moved off the land the lakes would cover, and whole communities and farms went under water — a cost still remembered in places like Loyston, under Norris Lake. During World War II, TVA power helped run the Manhattan Project at Oak Ridge. [S3]

Today the lakes are as much about recreation as power: marinas, state parks, fishing tournaments and summer cabins. Read more in our story From Kerosene Lamps to the Secret City and on the History hub. [S6]

Lake tips

Check the level

TVA lakes are lowered in fall and winter and filled by early summer. Check TVA lake levels ↗ before you launch. [S5]

Where to stay

Lake houses on Norris and Douglas, or a hotel in Oak Ridge or Kingston — see where to stay.

Mountains next door

Douglas and Fontana sit right by the park — pair a lake day with the Smokies hub.

Lake news

Water-safety alerts and lake headlines on Area news.

From our shop · My East Tennessee

Lake & river souvenirs

Buying a print or a little merch helps keep these guides free.

Norris Lake — Anderson & Campbell counties posterPrintful · poster & moreNorris LakeAnderson & Campbell countiesView on Printful →Zazzle posterWatts Bar LakeKingstonView on Zazzle →Zazzle posterChickamauga Lakenear DecaturView on Zazzle →Zazzle posterArch LakePickett CountyView on Zazzle →Walnut Street Bridge — Chattanooga posterPrintful · poster & moreWalnut Street BridgeChattanoogaView on Printful →Moccasin Bend, 1902 — Chattanooga posterPrintful · poster & moreMoccasin Bend, 1902ChattanoogaView on Printful →Hales Bar Dam powerhouse — near Jasper posterPrintful · poster & moreHales Bar Dam powerhousenear JasperView on Printful →Fort Southwest Point — Kingston posterPrintful · poster & moreFort Southwest PointKingstonView on Printful →

Browse the full East TN souvenir shop →

Sources

Facts on this page were checked against these sources on Oct 29, 2026 (ET). We summarize in our own words and link out — re-check hours, fees and road status before you go.

  1. S1 TVA — Our History ↗
  2. S2 TVA — Norris Dam ↗
  3. S3 Tennessee Encyclopedia — Tennessee Valley Authority ↗
  4. S4 Tennessee Encyclopedia — Tennessee River ↗
  5. S5 TVA — Lake levels (all reservoirs) ↗
  6. S6 TVA — Recreation on TVA lakes ↗

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