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Overview
Cherokee Lake is a 28,780-acre reservoir on the Holston River in Grainger, Hamblen, Jefferson, and Hawkins counties in East Tennessee, near Morristown and Bean Station. It was created in 1941 when the Tennessee Valley Authority completed Cherokee Dam on a wartime crash schedule for hydropower and flood control. The dam sits about 52 miles upstream of the Holston-French Broad confluence that forms the Tennessee River.
With nearly 400 miles of winding shoreline and an average depth near 30 feet, Cherokee is a large, fertile storage reservoir that typically fluctuates about 27 to 30 feet from summer to winter for seasonal flood storage. Wooded ridges, long creek arms, and broad open water create abundant fish habitat and boating water.
The lake is a well-known fishery for striped and hybrid bass, largemouth and smallmouth bass, crappie, and catfish, with fisheries managed by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. TVA access areas, state parks, wildlife areas, and marinas provide extensive public access.
Water levels on Cherokee Lake are managed by TVA around a summer full pool near 1,073 feet above mean sea level, with a winter pool near 1,037 feet for flood storage. Elevations shift seasonally and with rainfall and generation, so monitoring current lake levels is important for boating, fishing, and dock access throughout the year.
Cherokee Lake is a 28,780-acre reservoir on the Holston River managed by Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).