Overview
Lake Guntersville is Alabama's largest reservoir, a roughly 67,900-acre mainstem lake on the Tennessee River in northeast Alabama that extends about 76 miles upstream toward the Tennessee line. Guntersville Dam was completed in the late 1930s and is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority for navigation, hydropower, flood storage, and recreation. The city of Guntersville sits on a peninsula formed when the reservoir filled.
With nearly 890 miles of shoreline, an average depth near 15 feet, and a maximum depth around 60 feet in the old river channel, Guntersville is a broad, relatively shallow valley lake framed by forested ridges. Extensive aquatic vegetation, creek embayments, and main-river ledges create diverse habitat, and much of the shoreline remains lightly developed compared with many Piedmont power lakes.
Guntersville is nationally known for largemouth bass fishing and also produces crappie, bream, and catfish, with fisheries managed by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Lake Guntersville State Park, Buck's Pocket State Park, city parks, marinas, and numerous public ramps make it a major boating and tournament destination.
Water levels on Lake Guntersville are managed by TVA as a navigation pool, with a minimum winter elevation of 593 feet above mean sea level and a typical summer operating range of 594 to 595 feet. Because the lake sits between Nickajack upstream and Wheeler Lake downstream in the Tennessee River stairway, elevations respond to basin-wide operations and rainfall, so monitoring current lake levels is important for boating, fishing, and shoreline access.
Current Conditions
Lake Guntersville is currently 0.7 feet below full pool and has fallen slightly over the past week.
- 7-day trendFallingLatest movement can differ from the seven-day trend.
- 7-day changeDown 0.11 ft
- 30-day changeDown 0.71 ft
- Drought conditionsNo Drought
About This Lake
Learn how this lake is managed, what affects its water level, and where Lake Insights gets its data.
Lake Guntersville is a 67,900-acre reservoir on the Tennessee River managed by Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).