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Great Falls Reservoir

Photo of Great Falls dam with water flowing over spillways

Great Falls Dam is located about 75 miles southeast of Nashville on the Caney Fork River. It’s named for the falls that plunge into the Caney Fork a short distance below the dam. The dam was featured in The Specialist, a 1994 movie starring Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone.

Great Falls Dam, completed in 1916 by the Tennessee Electric Power Company for the purpose of power generation, was bought by TVA in 1939.

The area surrounding Great Falls Reservoir is a scenic wilderness with numerous waterfalls, including the one that gives the reservoir its name. Whitewater rapids below the dam are world renowned for kayaking and canoeing and have been the site for national and international paddling events.

Nearby Rock Island State Park offers hiking, camping, swimming, and boating on Center Hill Lake. There is a boat ramp above the dam on Great Falls Reservoir, an old mill site on the river below the dam, and spectacular fishing in the scenic gorge of the Caney Fork River.

More information on Great Falls Reservoir

Operating guide

Daily reservoir operation information

Sportfish survey results

Sportfish ratings

Recreation facilities

 

Great Falls:
Facts & Figures

Construction of Great Falls Dam began in 1915 and was completed in 1916.

Great Falls is one of seven dams acquired by TVA from private companies, and it’s the only TVA dam located outside the Tennessee River watershed.

Great Falls Dam is a hydroelectric facility. It has two generating units with a net dependable capacity of 36 megawatts. Net dependable capacity is the amount of power a dam can produce on an average day, minus the electricity used by the dam itself.

Great Falls Reservoir is 22 miles long and has 120 miles of winding shoreline and about 1,830 acres of water surface.

Great Falls has a flood-storage capacity of 30,500 acre-feet.

The dam is 92 feet high and stretches 800 feet across the Caney Fork River.

 

 

 

           
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