Lakes & Rivers

Old Hickory Lake was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers beginning January, 1952. The dam was closed and the filling of the lake began June 11, 1954. The lock opened to navigation June 14, 1954 and electrical power began production April 5, 1957. The total cost of the project was $48,681,700.

The total length of Old Hickory Dam is 3,750 feet; 145 feet of that being the navigation lock, 2,870 feet of earth and embankment, 355 feet of spillway, and the balance of 380 feet consisting of the powerhouse intake section. At the dam, there is a lock that was constructed for navigation purposes which has a maximum lift of 63 feet from below the dam to above the dam, with a chamber size of 84 feet by 400 feet.

Construction of the dam took 460,800 cubic yards of concrete; 1,650,600 cubic yards of earth excavation; 169,000 cubic yards of rock excavation; 432,600 cubic yards of earth fill; and 18,900 cubic yards of rock fill and riprap.

The elevation of the reservoir at maximum pool level, which covers an area of 22,500 acres, is 445 feet above sea level. The normal minimum pool, which covers an area of 19,550 acres, is 442 feet above sea level. The backwater length of the reservoir at the top of the gate level (mainstream) is 97.3 miles long. Old Hickory Reservoir at maximum pool has 440 miles of shoreline and contains 467,000 acre feet of water. The water shed area (the area of land from which the water feeds the lake) covers 11,674 square miles.

Old Hickory Dam is located on the Cumberland River at mile 216.2, and is in Davidson and Sumner Counties, Tennessee, 25.5 miles upriver from Nashville. The counties surrounding Old Hickory Lake include Davidson, Sumner, Wilson, Trousdale, and Smith Counties.

The lake covers portions of Davidson, Rutherford, and Wilson Counties and consists of 14,200 acres of water at summer pool elevation 490 feet above mean sea level. The water is surrounded by 18,854 acres of public lands; 10,000 acres are devoted to wildlife management. The site of the former town of Old Jefferson was inundated by the reservoir; the community was demolished in the early 1960s for the building of the dam.

The dam, powerhouse, lake, and public lands are operated and supervised by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' personnel under the direction of the District Engineer at Nashville. The Natural Resource Management Office maintains three campgrounds (Anderson Road, Seven Points, and Poole Knobs), eleven day-use/picnic areas (Anderson Road, Cook, Damsite, East Fork, Fate Sanders, Jefferson Springs, Nice's Mill, Overlook, Seven Points, Smith Springs, and Tailwater), and twelve boat launching ramps (Anderson Road, Cook, East Fork, Fall Creek, Fate Sanders, Hurricane Creek, Jefferson Springs, Lamar Hill, Mona, Nice's Mill, Poole Knobs, Seven Points, Smith Springs, Stewart's Creek, and Viverett Creek). Marinas at the lake include Elm Hill, Four Corners, Fate Sanders, Hamilton Creek, Percy Priest, and Nashville Shores. The lake is also home to a number of recreational organizations such as the Vanderbilt Sailing Club, the Vanderbilt Rowing Club, and the Nashville Rowing Club.

Cheatham Lake is an impoundment of the Cumberland River with 320 miles of shoreline. It is 67.5 miles long and extends all the way from Cheatham Dam through Nashville to Old Hickory Dam. In its upper reaches, the lake generally consists of a deepened river channel and is often referred to as a river. However, water levels and flows in these upper reaches are also controlled by the dam.

The Nashville District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers welcomes you to Cordell Hull Lake. The lake provides a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities for millions of visitors each year. Because of the temperate climate and relatively long recreation season, visitors have numerous activities from which to choose, including: fishing, hunting, camping, picnicking, boating, hiking, horseback riding and other numerous ways to enjoy nature.

Cordell Hull Lake provides boaters with a wide variety of opportunities to enjoy their respective recreational interests. Our 11,960 acres of water offer an opportunity for all types of recreation. Canoes, Sailboats, Fishing and Hunting Boats, Pleasure Boats, and Personal Watercraft all share the waters, so each boater has a responsibility to respect other boaters and practice good boating ethics and launching etiquette. With 381 miles of shoreline and 22 boat-launching ramps,

Cordell Hull Lake offers a fishing opportunity for anyone with or without a boat. Cordell Hull Lake provides a desirable cold and warm water fishery. Adequate cold water is present year-round; this water is discharged from the hypolimnion of Lake Cumberland and Dale Hollow Lake. Roaring River and its tributaries provide the lake with adequate warm water. Roaring River and its tributaries, Blackburn Fork and Spring Creek are excellent smallmouth bass and rock bass streams.

The Cumberland River is a wild river above the headwaters of Lake Cumberland. Cumberland Falls, a 68-foot waterfall on this section of river, is one of the largest waterfalls in the eastern United States and is the only place in the Western Hemisphere where a moonbow can be seen. Most of the river below Lake Cumberland's Wolf Creek Dam is navigable because of several locks and dams. A 90-mile section of its Big South Fork is protected by the National Park Service as Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.

Dams at various locations of the Cumberland River have created large reservoirs for recreation such as Lake Barkley in western Kentucky and Lake Cumberland (the deepest lake in the Tennessee and Cumberland river valleys) in southern Kentucky. Cordell Hull and Old Hickory Lake to the east of Nashville and Cheatham Lake to the west. Laurel Lake, on the Laurel River in southern Kentucky, the Dale Hollow Reservoir on the Obey River in northeast middle Tennessee, and Percy Priest Lake on the Stones River in Nashville are each created by dams just upstream from their respective confluence with the Cumberland River.