After what officials are calling another successful recreation season in 2019, the Tennessee Valley Authority managed campgrounds and visitor centers are closed for the winter months. The campgrounds and visitor centers will reopen in spring 2020.
During this year’s recreation season, the campgrounds hosted over 96,000 total visitor nights.
TVA campgrounds closed are:
• Cherokee Dam — Cherokee Reservoir in Jefferson City.
• Douglas Dam — Headwater — Douglas Reservoir near Sevierville.
• Douglas Dam — Tailwater — Douglas Reservoir near Sevierville.
• Melton Hill Dam — Melton Hill Reservoir near Lenoir City.
• Pickwick Dam — Pickwick Reservoir near Savannah.
• Watauga Dam — Watauga Reservoir near Elizabethton.
While the campgrounds are closed, TVA and Recreation Resource Management will perform maintenance such as tree trimming, parking lot striping and the replacement of amenities such as grills and picnic tables. Employees will also assess them for possible upgrades such as bathroom improvements, renovating camp stores and upgrading electrical service. Work to repair flood damage will continue at Pickwick with the goal of having the campgrounds completely open by spring.
TVA’s day-use recreation areas on dam reservations remain open year-round. These recreation areas are used for hiking, fishing, boating, picnicking, wildlife viewing and swimming.
TVA’s four staffed visitor centers also had a great year—152,000 visitors over the seven-month season.
Visitor centers at Norris, Fontana and Kentucky Dams are closed and will reopen the first weekend of April. Visitor centers at the Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage facility near Chattanooga, and unstaffed centers at South Holston and Fort Patrick Henry dams in northeast Tennessee remain open year-round, as well as informative display panels at Douglas and Melton Hill Dams in Tennessee and at Wilson and Guntersville dams in Alabama.
Visitor centers close for major holidays and during severe weather. Additional information on all of TVA’s visitor centers is on TVA’s website.
• Raccoon Mountain/Laurel Point, located off Raccoon Mountain Road near U.S. Highway 64/72 west of Chattanooga, is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. through October and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. November through March.
• Wilson Dam, located off Reservation Road in Muscle Shoals, is accessible year-round.
• Guntersville Dam, located off Snow Point Rd. (CR-50), is accessible year-round.
• South Holston Dam, located on South View Dam Drive, Bristol, Tn., is open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. April through October; and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. November through March.
• Fort Patrick Henry, located off Interstate 81, Exit 59, is open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. April through October; and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. November through March.
• Melton Hill Dam overlook, located off of I-75 near Lenoir City, is accessible year-round.
• Douglas Dam overlook, located off of State Highway 92 near Dandridge, Tn., is accessible year-round.