Swimming lakes ? (Knoxville, Chattanooga, Jackson: living, price, airport)

[dnemke]

What towns would one look for that has great mountain views, very quiet peaceful, with swimmable lakes? Are there any?

[SPLIT]

D: I would say Eastern part has all your wishes. The Tennessee river is quite nice between the locks/dams. The sections that widen out have different Lake Names. Chickamauga Lake just south of Dayton and North of Chattanooga, is very typical. Many coves and creek inlets. Also Hiwassee River empties also. Kayak / canoe paddling very popular here........[IMG][/IMG]

[KC38506]

Smithville near Center Hill Lake (30 min. from Cookeville) or Dale Hollow, which many claim to be the cleanest lake they've ever seen, on the Cumberland Plateau near Livingston/Byrdstown. VERY rural but lovely at Dale Hollow.

Center Hill is the preferred lake of many of your country music stars, particularly Alan Jackson and Aaron Tippin.

[insanesmooch]

Between Elizabethton and Mountain City you can swim in the Watagua Lake. There are at least two spots roped off for swimming.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by dnemke

What towns would one look for that has great mountain views, very quiet peaceful, with swimmable lakes? Are there any?

I agree with KC38506, the lakes around Cookeville are beautiful. Dale Hollow is my favorite, it's more isolated than the other lakes and the water really is cleaner (too clean for catfish). Center Hill is probably the most popular but only because it's closer to Nashville. Like KC38506 said, there are some country music stars with weekend getaways on Center Hill Lake.

I'm going to try attaching some pictures of the 3 lakes near Cookeville and see if it works.

Here's a picture of Center Hill Lake:



Here's a picture of Cordell Hull Lake:



And here's my favorite, Dale Hollow Lake:

[dnemke]

Thanks for the great pics and info.

[phyll]

Thanks for posting those pictures, They are beautiful JMT I saw them BEFORE work and kept thinking, I am going there they give me hope

[JMT]

Originally Posted by phyll

Thanks for posting those pictures, They are beautiful JMT I saw them BEFORE work and kept thinking, I am going there they give me hope

I'm glad you liked them! Are you going to the Cookeville area? If so, I highly recommend Dale Hollow, but Center Hill is also beautiful.

[phyll]

Originally Posted by JMT

I'm glad you liked them! Are you going to the Cookeville area? If so, I highly recommend Dale Hollow, but Center Hill is also beautiful.

I will sure try now after seeing the beautiful lakes. I may sound dumb, but I dont really know the area around, like seiverville ,Gatlinburg,pigeon forge.Is cookeville far from this area?(sorry if the spelling of towns are wrong)..

[JMT]

Originally Posted by phyll

I will sure try now after seeing the beautiful lakes. I may sound dumb, but I dont really know the area around, like seiverville ,Gatlinburg,pigeon forge.Is cookeville far from this area?(sorry if the spelling of towns are wrong)..

Trust me, phyll, you can misspell Tennessee names all you want as long as you continue to have the wonderful attitude that you have about coming to Tennessee. You will definitely be welcomed here!

Cookeville is about 3 hours from Gatlinburg, maybe a little more if it's a beautiful fall weekend and traffic in the mountains is pretty bad.

One of the nice things about Cookeville (and there are many) is that it's in a beautiful setting, you don't need to battle the Sevierville / Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg traffic nightmare if you want to see fall colors. But you're also only a 3 hour drive away if you really do want to go spend a weekend (or a day) in the beautiful Smoky Mountains.

And Cookeville is also only an hour from the Nashville airport with its cheap and plentiful flights (half the price of flights out of Knoxville or the Tri Cities).

And, as you saw from those pictures, there are some beautiful lakes around Cookeville.

Please feel free to ask any other questions you want. And come on down!