Lake Chatuge History

Lake Chatuge, one of the most scenic lakes in the Tennessee Valley Authority was formed in 1942 when the construction on the earth-filled dam was completed. The dam is located off Myers Chapel Road, about 3 miles southeast of Hayesville, at the Barnett Bridge in North Carolina just over the Towns County, Georgia line. Chatuge Dam is 144 feet high and stretches 2,850 feet across the Hiawassee River. Chatuge resevoir covers about 7,200 acres, with approximately 132 miles of shoreline, and a flood-storage capacity of 62,619 acre-feet. Although Lake Chatuge was originally built for water storage to prevent flooding downstream, it currently serves many purposes, including flood control, electric power generation, augmentation of water flows for navigation downstream, and provides numerous recreational activities including fishing, boating, skiing,swimming and camping.   

A lazy day on Lake Chatuge.