The Dale Hollow Reservoir is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

situated on the

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

border. The lake is formed by the damming of the Obey River, 7.3 miles (12 km) above its juncture with the

Cumberland River The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States. The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 river drains almost of southern Kentucky and ...

river mile A river mile is a measure of distance in miles along a river from its mouth. River mile numbers begin at zero and increase further upstream. The corresponding metric unit using kilometers is the river kilometer. They are analogous to vehicle roadw ...

380. Portions of the lake also cover the Wolf River. Dale Hollow is one of four major

flood control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...

reservoirs for the Cumberland; the others being Percy Priest Lake, Lake Cumberland, and Center Hill Lake. It is also the site of

Dale Hollow Lake State Park Dale Hollow Lake State Resort Park is a Kentucky state park located on the Frogue Peninsula on the northern shore of Dale Hollow Reservoir in Clinton and Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It cove ...

on the north (Kentucky) side.

Location

Dale Hollow Reservoir lies mainly in northern Tennessee, where it covers portions of

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay part ...

Pickett Pickett is an English surname. It is a variant form of Pigott. Notable people with the surname include: * Adarius Pickett (born 1996), American football player * Albert J. Pickett (1810–1858), American historian * Allison Deforest Pickett (190 ...

, and Overton Counties. Small arms of the lake also extend northward into the Kentucky counties of Cumberland and

Clinton Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has frequently been used as a given ...

. The project consists of 27,700 acres (112 km²) of water and 24,842 acres (101 km²) of surrounding land.

History

Dale Hollow Dam and Lake was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1938 and the River and Harbor Act of 1946. The project was completed by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

in 1943. Hydroelectric power generating units were added in 1948, 1949 and 1953. The project was designed by the Corps of Engineers and built under their supervision by private contractors. The hydroelectric generators of Dale Hollow Dam are used to supply power to the surrounding countryside. The dam, power plant and reservoir are currently operated by the

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

District of the Corps. The creation of the reservoir resulted in the submerging of a town named Willow Grove. In 1942, the town was purchased by the government in order to create the reservoir. The residents were forced to relocate. Former residents of the town meet annually on Labor Day weekend.

Recreation

The lake is also used recreationally. Water sports are moderately popular, especially

water skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffici ...

. Wakeboarding and tubing are two more water sports that can be seen regularly. The main recreational use is

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques ...

. Dale Hollow is well known as a prime location for smallmouth bass fishing, currently holding the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book '' Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizati ...

for the largest such fish ever taken (11 lb., 15 oz). It is the lake that is linked with the name Billy Westmoreland, famed smallmouth angler of Celina, Tennessee. The lake and surrounding rivers, the

and the Obey River also contain other species such as

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, b ...

crappie Crappies () are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Pomoxis'' in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers. Etymology The genus name ''Pomo ...

muskellunge The muskellunge ''(Esox masquinongy)'', often shortened to muskie, musky or lunge is a species of large freshwater predatory fish native to North America. It is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae. Origin of name The name "muskel ...

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

, gar, and

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-sa ...

. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife each maintain jurisdiction over the lake's waters within their respective states. There is a reciprocal fishing agreement between the agencies, so recreational fisherman may be licensed by either state in order to fish in the reciprocal zone. Fishermen in areas of the lake outside the zone must be licensed by the governing agency.

Islands

Geiger Island is an

island An island or isle is a piece of subcontinental land completely surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be ...

in Dale Hollow Lake. It is designated as a primitive camping site by the Army Corps of Engineers, which manages Dale Hollow Lake. According to author Darren Shell, the site sees heavy usage during the summer months, and was a traditional camping site of the

Boy Scout A Scout (in some countries a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or Pathfinder) is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split ...

troops in the area for many years. Henry Geiger, the founder of nearby Cedar Lake Camp, a Christian youth camp in Livingston, Tennessee, was the first to begin camping on the island. The island bears his name.Traditional Camping at Geiger Island http://redeemerbiblechurch.org/images/linknewsletter/link0409.pdf

References

External links

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Dale Hollow website

Dale Hollow Lake Views
* https://www.dalehollowlakeviews.com/advertise {{authority control Protected areas of Clay County, Tennessee Protected areas of Overton County, Tennessee Protected areas of Pickett County, Tennessee Reservoirs in Kentucky Reservoirs in Tennessee Buildings and structures in Clinton County, Kentucky Buildings and structures in Cumberland County, Kentucky Protected areas of Clinton County, Kentucky Protected areas of Cumberland County, Kentucky Protected areas of Fentress County, Tennessee Dams in Tennessee United States Army Corps of Engineers dams Bodies of water of Clay County, Tennessee Bodies of water of Overton County, Tennessee Bodies of water of Pickett County, Tennessee Bodies of water of Fentress County, Tennessee Bodies of water of Clinton County, Kentucky Bodies of water of Cumberland County, Kentucky 1943 establishments in Kentucky 1943 establishments in Tennessee