Lake Information for Watts Bar Lake

Watts Bar Lake is a reservoir on the Tennessee River created by Watts Bar Dam as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority system.

Located about midway between Chattanooga and Knoxville, the lake begins as the Tennessee River below Fort Loudon Dam in Lenoir City, Tennessee and stretches 72.4 miles (116.5 km) to Watts Bar Dam, near Spring City, Tennessee. The Clinch River connects to the main channel of the lake at mile 568 near Southwest Point (site of Andrew Jackson and John Sevier's 1803 confrontation) in Kingston, Tennessee. The widening of the Clinch by the lake makes that river navigable all the way up to Melton Hill Dam, which is equipped with a navigation lock allowing navigation upstream through Oak Ridge and Clinton. The partially navigable Emory River connects with the Clinch near the TVA's Kingston Steam Plant just upriver from the meeting with the Tennessee. Including the Clinch and Emory arms, Watts Bar has 722 miles (1,160 km) of shoreline and over 39,000 acres (160 km²) of water surface. Minor tributaries include Poplar Creek, Caney Creek, and White's Creek. The lake contains several large islands, most notably Thief Neck Island, Long Island, and Sand Island.

The state of Tennessee advises against eating fish caught in certain areas of the lake due to PCB contamination.