watauga lake

Visited here a few years ago. Very pretty area. Nice and relaxing. No cell / internet service made the trip very nice.

Watauga Lake is perfect for boaters, especially sailboats. The water is clear and deep, right up to the waters's edge. Located in Cherokee National Forest, the surrounding mountains plunge into the lake from all sides. The Appalachian Trail comes down to the Lake, and continues around the water's edge until crossing the dam at a beautiful park and observation deck. There is great camping, either free on the Trail, or on the Lake there's Cardens Bluff Campground, a small peninsula with wonderful campsites right on the Lake. Very inexpensive (honor system) with clean showers and restrooms. No reservations, you just find the site you want, set up your tent, then go pay. Very quiet and peaceful campground. No electric or water at the sites, but restrooms are conveniently located. Concrete pads and fire rings. Boats and canoes can be anchored by the sites. There is even a shooting range nearby where you can pay a very small fee (honor system) and safely shoot all day!There are several nice marina's on the Lake, with public boat ramps at several convenient locations, especially for fishermen. The east end of the lake stretches almost to NC, where you'll find the natural beauty of the mountains and the head waters of the Watauga River the perfect place for fishing, kayaking or canoeing. Very few people live around the Lake, because the steep mountainsides are almost impossible to build on. Great area to visit and enjoy, especially in the summer. Most of the public park areas close in the late fall, and reopen in the spring, but you can park outside the park areas and walk in any time. Bring your food and drink, as there are very few places to shop nearby. If you're up for a hike, there's an awesome water fall (Laurel Falls} that's about a 1.5 mile hike from the parking area provided by the Park Service. The parking area is on hwy 321, just south of the Lake, near the town of Hampton. It's well marked, and the trail is good, all the way to the falls. Nice afternoon hike! No facilities..

Watauga Lake is an absolutely beautiful/magnificent lake & recreation area! The official Recreation Area on the Hampton side is Watauga Point Recreation Area. The view & setting at this location is a real Worship Experience- breathtaking and stunning as one takes in the sky, mountains, lake, and the stunning shade in the midst of the picnic area. My favorite picnic area is the new covered pavilion which includes restrooms for men & women (2 each), a large covered picnic/activity area, and even electrical outlets. Yesterday, our church held our annual outdoor worship service there- praise band, church family, visitors, and all that nature contains. This is a National Park area, and it is so well managed.The contact number for reservations and additional info is: 423-735-1500. This is a must-see experience if you wish to have a grand moment of peace and contentment while on a trip or a visit to upper East TN. Be sure to have time to spare- you will not be in a hurry to leave!

Very clean lake, and quite deep so it's very suitable for swimming, boating, skiing, etc. House boats with slides into the water often anchor around the lake for an afternoon of fun. This area is NOT built up at all, much of the surrounding land is national park. We enjoyed a week of swimming, skiing, fishing and wonderful peach and quiet!

Recently we looked into purchasing a ski boat from another resident in our area. Since the boat was over 20 years old, the owner suggested that we take the boat with us on an upcoming trip to Watauga Lake and test it out. If the performance of the boat was as he had claimed we agreed to purchase the boat. As we were not the registered owners of the boat he made sure that the boat's registration was current, and provided us with all of his owner's information, including the registration. All neat and tidy, right? NOT IF YOU'RE BOATING ON WATAUGA LAKE. One day on the water, we were hailed by a local "Tennessee Wildlife Resources" officer when a float blew out of the boat and he retrieved it. He then asked for our boating registration, which we provided. We explained the situation and offered up all of the documentation. He not only told us that we were violating TN registration regulations, he also stated that we MUST register the boat in TN since we were boating on a TN lake. Upon checking later with a staff member at the local courthouse, we were told "that's not correct, and he never should have told you that." He then proceeded to write us a ticket. The fine was $ 10.00, but guess what, the court costs WHICH THE OFFICER ASSIGNED HIMSELF, were $ 240.00!! Again, the response from the courthouse was, "Gee, that seems really excessive, but, that is the fee he assigned to your ticket." The condensed version is that we took all documentation to the courthouse to plead our case and were told that "that's the law in Tennessee." There was nothing to do but shell out $ 250.00 to the state of Tennessee.... so, nice going, all you hard working folks in TN. Hope you're not relying on tourist dollars for a living because, while we will probably go back to Watauga Lake at some point in the future, we'll make sure that we purchase gas, groceries, meals in restaurants, etc. etc. etc. in North Carolina. And for all you other folks who may want to boat on Watauga Lake, even if you just shelled out big bucks for a nice shiny new boat, and the registration is being processed, that nice boat is going to have to sit in your driveway until your paperwork shows up. . . or you can risk getting a $ 250.00 (or more, depending on the mood of the Wildlife "officer") fine if you put it into the water in Tennessee. "Volunteer State?" It seems as if at least some of them are volunteering to rip off unsuspecting visitors to their area.

This is by far the nicest lake in this area. It is very pristine and peaceful. There are boats available to rent or plenty of shore are to lounge in and enjoy the views.

Watauga Lake has always been known for being the cleanest water on the east coast. We now see why! Seeing is convincing! Such a spectacular place to go for a day - for a week - camp or just enjoy a day - ANYWHERE on the lake, docks, sandy beaches, restaurant's overlooking the lake, or at the marinas. HAVE FUN, we sure did!

There is lots to do at Watauga Lake, or just find a quiet spot to relax. It is so easy to spend a day on the lake, even if you don't have a boat. There is a roped off area for swimming with a beach for relaxing and picnicking. If you have a boat, there are quite a few areas for putting in easily with lots of parking. There are also boat rentals available at Lakeshore Marina. Just show up and explore! Enjoying the lake is free admission.

Enjoy yourself on a beautiful scenic lake snuggled down in the beautiful mountains of East Tennessee. Great for boating, fishing, and camping. Very clean and well maintained. A great family vacation spot.

This is a beautiful place to visit with the two damns and the great scenery.. You can rent just about anything a Fish Springs also it was just so much fun! Also really close to the Americourt Hotel a close quaint place to stay!

Our families visit us every summer when we summer near Lake Watauga. This year we rented a boat at Fish Springs Marina for the day and had a terrific experience. It was a beautiful day, and there were very few other boats on the lake, so we thoroughly enjoyed the magnificent view of mountains surrounding this gorgeous bright blue lake, The boat looked fairly new, worked perfectly, and was easy to use. Our group of 11 (ages 1 through 71) all had a great day picnicing, swimming, and fishing. (just small fish that the children caught and we threw back)

Watauga Lake is a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains on all sides. We spent the day on a friends sailboat which was kept at Lakeshore Marina. Hwy 321 is a pretty (but winding) ride through the mountains, and the lake was worth the visit.

This was a beautiful place to put a boat, paddle board, kayak in the lake and paddle. people are friendly, and store has many things that you may need for the day.

The mountains are amazing around the watauga lake and there are all kinds of things to do and see. The campgrounds in the area are very clean and nice with great views of the lake from every angle. There are all kinds of restaurants in the area and any one of them will greet you with incredible hospitality and offer you the most wonderful food you will experience!

Way prettier and cleaner than Boone Lake, with lots of swimming areas and a few good places to rent a pontoon boat. Beautiful setting, about 30-40 minutes from Johnson City.