South Holston Dam

File:Placeholder.gif Trail Name South Holston Dam Nearest City Bristol State Tennessee Trail Marking {{{Marking}}} Trail Use/Features Difficulty Rating Easy Hiking Time 1.51.5 Hours <br />0.0938 Days <br />90 Min <br /> Distance, round-trip 33 mi <br />4.828 km <br /> Climb/Descent Elevation <200"" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property. / {{{Elevation Loss}}}"{{{Elevation Loss}}}" is not a number. High Point 18501,850 Feet <br />616.667 Yards <br />563.88 Meters <br /> Nearest Medical Bristol, TN Trip Reports Click Here Loading map... {"type":"ROADMAP","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"mappingservice":"googlemaps3","width":"270px","height":"180px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":8,"layers":[],"controls":["zoom"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":36.5176943939887195256233098916709423065185546875,"lon":-82.0899517360038117885778774507343769073486328125,"icon":""}]} Show Large Map

Trail Overview

Easy family hike with views of South Holston Lake.

How to get there

From Kingsport, TN

1. Take I-81 north to Exit 69 (TN394/Blountville).
2. Turn right/east onto TN394 and travel 12 miles (passing Bristol Motor Speedway).
3. Take right/east onto US421 and travel 3 miles.
4. Turn right/south onto Emmett Road and travel 1 mile.
5. Turn left/south onto Holston View Dam Road and travel 1 mile.
6. At base of dam, take sharp right onto South Holston Dam Road up the right side.
7. Pass a small picnic area on left (Note: This is not the main, large picnic area near the visitors' center.)
8. Parking is at the small gravel pulloff on the right before reaching the top of the dam.

Route Description

Starting at the parking area, walk past locked gate onto paved roadway. Follow road south from the South Holston Lake dam along the lake shore until it ends at the spillway. Return by same path.

Typical Conditions

Shaded gravel road, generally dual tracks, thus suitable for bikes or walking. Forest Service appears to run a bushhog up and back to keep the grass cut low.

Fees, Permits, etc.

No fee to use.

Before/After the Hike

Visitors' Center on north side of the dam offers a nice view of the lake - and bathroom facilities.

Misc. Information

The reservoir is created by a TVA dam on the South Fork Holston River. Construction of the dam was started in 1942, but halted due to WWII, and finally completed in 1950. The earth-and-rock fill dam is 285 feet high and 1,600 feet long.

Maps

<googlemap lat="36.5150" lon="-82.0910" type="terrain" height="500" zoom="14" scale="yes" icons="http://tehcc.org/clubwiki/kml/marker{label}.png"> http://tehcc.org/clubwiki/kml/South_Holston_Dam_spillway.kml

(S) 36.52118, -82.09117 Small picnic area (S) 36.5279,-82.0867 Large picnic area across dam (A) 36.51741,-82.08995 Parking at trailhead (G) 36.5, -82.0960 Spillway (Q) 36.5255,-82.0879 Visitors' center </googlemap>

Photos

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