Live Music on Watts Bar Lake

A named island on the lake near Rockwood, best known as the home of Gizmo Jam, the lake's annual on-island concert.

Gizmo Isle is a lake island on Watts Bar near 1701 New Hope Road in Rockwood. It is best known as the host of Gizmo Jam, the annual on-island concert. Outside of the event, public information about the island is thin.

A craft beer bar built inside a family member's old auto garage, with food trucks, live music, fire pits, and a dog-friendly patio in downtown Rockwood.

Cofer's Garage occupies a former auto garage in downtown Rockwood, retaining the car lifts as table supports and oil drums in the bathrooms as vanities. Craft beer on tap, rotating food trucks for food, live music on weekends, and a membership option for regulars. Open Thursday through Saturday.

Harriman's craft brewery, built in a spacious industrial taproom that hosts live music, comedy nights, trivia, and dogs.

A craft brewery at 316 Ruritan Road in Harriman, open Wednesday through Sunday, with a rotating tap list of house brews including a peanut butter stout and Kolsch, a small food menu of flatbread pizzas and nachos, and a taproom spacious enough for large groups without crowding.

A renovated Kingston-area marina with new slips, a fuel dock, rotating weekend food trucks, and the kind of owner energy that makes people drive past other options.

Long Island Marina is off the main channel near Kingston, recently renovated with new docks and a 100-percent gas fuel dock. The operation runs a ship store with bait, beer, and snacks; weekend food trucks that rotate; live music on many weekends; and pontoon and kayak rentals. The ownership and staff are the most consistent positive note.

A newer, well-run resort marina on a lakeside peninsula that runs its campground like a resort and its Cantina like a neighborhood bar.

Rockwood Marina and RV Resort sits on a peninsula extending into Watts Bar Lake in Rockwood, about ten minutes off I-40. The marina handles fuel, slips, and boat services; the RV resort side offers waterfront sites, clean bathhouses, a saltwater pool, a dog park, and the Cove Cantina with delivery to your site.

A large off-channel working marina up Caney Creek, gated and practical, with over 200 slips and a ship store that actually has what you need.

Caney Creek Marina sits off the main channel two miles up Caney Creek in Harriman, accessible from river mile 562.5 on Watts Bar Lake. The marina offers over 200 covered and open slips, pontoon rentals, gas, free pumpout, a ship store stocked with accessories and snacks, and a weekend grill and bar. The approach requires checking bridge clearance (22-foot maximum vertical clearance).

A 1,000-seat outdoor amphitheater on the bluff at Fort Southwest Point, with lake views behind the stage and free summer concerts.

An outdoor amphitheater at Fort Southwest Point in Kingston, seating around 1,000. Free summer concerts sponsored by Kingston Parks and Recreation. Lake views behind the stage.

The mid-lake family resort that bundles marina, restaurant, brewery, pool, and floating cabins on one property.

Family-owned marina and resort in Ten Mile with covered and open slips, fuel dock, transient hookups, a saltwater pool, on-site dining and a brewery, and floating lake cabins guests rent right beside their boat.

A Greg Norman-designed course inside a gated lake-side community, with a long entry drive, water in play, and member-tier amenities.

A private Greg Norman Signature golf course at Tennessee National, a gated lake-side community in Loudon. Around 7,000 yards from the tips, sod-faced bunkers, water features. Daily 9 AM to 5 PM. Member tier with limited resort-day access.

A family-run marina on the lake's mid-section that does slips, fuel, boat rentals, a motel, and a Friday-Saturday restaurant under one roof.

Terrace View Marina sits on Euchee Chapel Road in Spring City, operating gas and diesel fuel, slips, transient docking, pontoon rentals, a ship store, and a small motel. The on-site Terrace View Restaurant runs Friday and Saturday evenings and draws a strong local following for its catfish, homemade desserts, and deck seating over the water.

Spring City's neighborhood taproom, the most socially ambitious place in town, with trivia, live music, pool tables, and a Thursday two-for-one on drafts.

A Spring City taproom on Front St, open Tuesday through Saturday evenings, with roughly 12 local and imported draft lines, canned and bottled beer, pool tables, two dartboards, cornhole, weekly trivia nights, occasional live music and food truck nights, and a small in-house food menu.

The biggest marina on the lake, and on summer weekends you feel it.

The largest marina on Watts Bar, in a protected cove near Ten Mile. Fuel, repair, ship store, rentals, 260-plus slips on floating docks, the Crow's Nest restaurant, and live music on weekend nights.

A big industrial bar-and-grill in Harriman's historic downtown that doubled down on things to do.

RoCo Social occupies a large historic building in downtown Harriman with a full kitchen, full bar, pool tables, cornhole, and bounce house events. Dinner runs American comfort with some genuine culinary ambition mixed in.

A laid-back BBQ bar in Kingston with live music on weekends and a menu that runs wider than the name suggests.

A Kingston staple on West Race Street, open Monday through Saturday. BBQ platters, catfish, burgers, and a full bar with a strong whiskey selection. Live music on weekend nights, catering available.

The new resort marina, paired with a Greg Norman course and an outdoor concert lawn.

A newer, smaller marina on a peninsula off the main channel near Ten Mile, attached to the Tennessee National residential community. Pontoon rentals, fuel, slips, a clubhouse, the Sunset Saloon, and an outdoor concert lawn that hosts touring tribute acts.

A mid-lake cove stop with a floating bar, weekend live music, an RV park, and the kind of down-home crowd that stays through the evening.

Bayside Marina and Resort sits in a cove off Ten Mile at 134 Bayside Drive, with boat slips, transient power, gas, an RV park, a floating bar with weekend live music, and a small food menu. The owners are frequently praised for their friendliness and the fishing off the docks is described as consistently productive.

A casual waterfront grill inside a working marina, weekends-only, with deck seating that stretches over the lake.

The restaurant inside Blue Springs Marina, open Friday through Sunday only. Burgers, sandwiches, stuffed tilapia, and a full bar, with deck seating directly over the water and carp and turtles below.

A waterfront burger joint in Spring City with a deck, a bar, and a steady following.

Lakeside Grill at Spring City Resort & Marina, just off the water in Spring City. Burgers, wings, sandwiches, indoor and deck seating, draft beer, weekend music, and a "Wing Wednesday" special.

A lower-lake marina with renovated waterfront cabins, covered slips, a year-round fuel dock, and Nick's Lakeside Grill on the grounds.

Spring City Resort and Marina sits at the lower end of Watts Bar Lake on New Lake Road in Spring City. The property offers renovated waterfront cabins, covered and open slips, a year-round fuel dock with floating docks, and Nick's Lakeside Grill on site.

A Rockwood bar with karaoke, live music, pool tables, and a full food menu that runs past prime rib.

A full-service lounge and bar in downtown Rockwood, open Thursday through Saturday (and Tuesday and Wednesday), with live music and karaoke on rotating nights, pool tables, and a food menu that includes prime rib, ribeye, burgers, pizza, wings, and prime rib egg rolls.