Swimming Spots on Watts Bar Lake

A dam-adjacent park ramp where you can launch a boat, swim, hike, or cook out depending on your energy level.

A multi-use park ramp near the lower end of Watts Bar Lake, close to the dam. Restrooms, covered picnic areas, bank fishing access, and swimming are all on site. The park has hours and closes; check before arriving for a late launch.

One of the lake's best-kept campgrounds, with spacious shaded sites directly on the water and owners who have run the place for twenty years.

Hornsby Hollow sits on Watts Bar Lake near Ten Mile with spacious shaded sites, many directly on the water, plus kayak, canoe, paddleboat, and SUP rentals by the day, a camp store, and bathhouses. Family-owned since 2006 and a TVA Camp-Right Gold member.

An older lakefront resort and marina that trades on a quiet cove, a white-sand beach, and a fishing-centric repeat clientele.

Lakeside Resort sits on Whites Creek Road in Spring City, offering covered boat slips, a bait shop, fishing licenses, motel rooms and cottages, a small grocery, and a white-sand beach. The property is older and shows some wear, but stays clean and draws a loyal angling and family crowd that returns year after year.

The biggest free family park on the lake's north side, with a swim beach, splash pad, kayak launch, and a 1.2-mile trail in the same place.

Roane County's flagship park, on Roane State Highway in Harriman. Free swim beach and splash pad, kayak launch, fishing piers, multiple playgrounds, a 1.2-mile paved walking trail, an 18-hole disc golf course, tennis courts, picnic pavilions, and a flower garden. Hours 7 AM to 8 PM.

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 well-maintained lakefront campground where most sites touch the water, the views are hard to beat, and the trade-off is unlevel ground and quirky utility hookups.

Fooshee Pass Campground sits on the water near Ten Mile with most sites either lakefront or lake-view, water and electric hookups at each site, bathhouses with hot showers, a roped swim area, a boat ramp, and day-use passes available to non-campers.

A well-established Boy Scouts council camp near Rockwood with fifty-plus years of scouting history, lakefront waterfront access, and an activity roster that covers everything from shotgun ranges to sailboats.

Camp Buck Toms is the summer camp for the Great Smoky Mountains Council BSA, set on Watts Bar Lake near Rockwood with more than fifty years of scouting history. The camp offers an extensive activity program including waterfront watercraft, shooting sports ranges, a climbing tower, high ropes, zip line, mountain bikes, hiking trails, and a ham radio classroom.

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 calm, well-kept campground ramp on the Piney River embayment where families come to swim and kayakers come to paddle.

A county recreation area on the Piney River embayment near Spring City, with a gentle boat ramp, swim area, clean restrooms, and camping. Best suited to families and paddlers; the ramp has a gradual slope and the setting is protected from open-lake wind.

A quiet, well-loved county campground on the upper lake with clean bathrooms, a swim beach, a boat ramp, and one of the few places that still welcomes tent campers without friction.

Riley Creek Campground is a county-operated property on Watts Bar Lake near Kingston with approximately 45 campsites, water and electric hookups, two swimming areas, a two-lane concrete boat ramp, and primitive tent sites. The camp hosts run a friendly, well-maintained operation.

A free TVA day-use park at the dam, with a swim beach, ramp, and a wheelchair-accessible water entry that locals quietly point to.

A TVA recreation area on the Decatur side of the dam with a swim beach, boat ramp, fishing access, paved walking trail, and picnic pavilions. Open 7 AM to 7 PM, free.

Mostly long-term residents with a thin layer of short-stay sites, on a manicured stretch of Caney Creek shoreline.

A gated RV resort on the Caney Creek arm in Harriman, with paved concrete sites, full hookups, a pool, a walking trail along the water, and an attached marina. Heavily long-term, with limited short-stay availability.

A high-amenity family resort where the kids' activities run all day and the cabins stay fully booked on holiday weekends.

Jellystone Park Watts Bar Lake is a newer franchise campground near Loudon offering paved RV sites, rental cabins, a pool and splash pad, a water park, and organized kids' activities throughout the day.

A locally owned, lakefront campground and marina that recently came back to life under new ownership.

Shelter Cove sits on Watts Bar Lake in Spring City with covered boat slips, full-hookup RV sites, waterfront duplex and cabin rentals, and a sandy beach. The property has changed hands and the current locally owned operation draws consistent praise for friendliness and cleanliness.