Norris Dam State Park

Really a nice park. Anyone would enjoy this park. It has many other places you will want to explore near by.

A good spot for gas but that’s about it. The restaurant had not been open when I go and the supplies at the marina are sub par. There are way better marinas in the area. The staff is very tentative and friendly though

I give this park four stars because it is very pretty but if I could rate the dump station separately, I would only give it one star. This is a nice park but I’m surprised no one has mentioned anything about this before. We have a Class A and wanted to empty our tanks prior to setting up considering the sites aren’t full hookup. The driveway and area to park for the dump station are nowhere near level plus the port is on the top of a concrete slab. Obviously you can’t get your tanks empty that way.
The ride in is long and winding which I liked but my husband who was driving got annoyed after a while. The driveway is narrow so in a big rig like ours you might need to do some maneuvering into your spot if its a corner spot. The spots are not level so you’ll be loving your auto jacks — we definitely were! It is dark and super quiet at night. I loved the abundance of lightening bugs which we don’t have at home.

As my wife and I settle into our Home Sweet Home and become East Tennesseans, we are daily thrilled with the beauty of the landscape that everywhere meets the eyes and engages the senses.
This year marks the 75^th anniversary of the Tennessee State Parks System. Currently, fifty-​three parks are accessible to the general public and ALL ARE FREE. What an incredible dollar value in today’s economy, and none of them are in legislative peril of being closed! (California would do well to investigate this model instead of closing so many beautiful State parks).
Today we went to Norris Dam State Park, located off of Interstate 75, about 30 miles north of downtown Knoxville. Built in 1936 as a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) public works project. This hydroelectric dam, built on the Clinch River, was the first of twenty-​nine dams subsequently built to control flooding along the Tennessee riverways and tributaries.
We were pleasantly surprised to discover that within the park’s borders, cabins and camp sites are available, along with a swimming pool, the «Tea House» which can be used for family or corporate get-​togethers, as well as a marina, boat launches and water sports.
What a beautiful place to spend a special day, weekend, or week-​long vacation, all in the foothills of the Beautiful Cumberland Mountains.

Norris is truly a fantastic state park. It is a scaled down national park. The Lenoir museum is a must-​see. The east campground is not well shaded and older (w/​power lines above it, they are clearly visible so it’s not like they sneak up on you and hum) but is very close to the rustic cabins and you can walk or bike out of your campsite to the lakeside trails. The west campground is well shaded, newer and secluded. It is the much busier of the 2 campgrounds. The deluxe cabins on the west side of the park are very accommodating and the rustic cabins on the east side are comfortable and great for a couple. This is a great mountain biking and hiking park. Trails can be accessed everywhere and there is no need to drive to any trailhead to access the seemingly endless network. Norris lake has plenty of boat docks to rent a boat or jet ski and lots of good swimming and fishing. If you are in the northern metro Knoxville area this park is well worth the visit.

I stay at Norris Dam 3 – 4 weeks per year for the past 5 years…
The rustic 1930’s era cabins near the dam are an enchanting value. I like warming up next to a fire in the rock fireplace, eating my dinner on the screened in porch swing, and seeing the deer outside my cabin every morning. There are a few hiking trails around the cabins which I explore every evening to my unauthorized swimming hole.
The sheets and pillows are prison-​issue, so I strongly recommend bringing your own!
The condo-​like cabins in the main park are extremely comfortable, especially for under $ 100! They have 3 bedrooms, a large-​ish kitchen, bigger bathroom, strong central AC, and big windows which look out into the woods.

We usually go on a house boat trip in Kentucky every June, but this year we decided to change it up a bit. We rented a house on Lake Norris called The Pit Stop. The house was cool but the steps down to the lake were not :) there were around 70 steps… We counted. The water was not very clean either. There were large tree branches and trash everywhere. The lake was very narrow as well so it made maneuvering around the debris difficult. I usually like to relax in a raft all day but here at the house’s dock the fish were very persistent. They kept swimming all around me and it really bothered me so I didn’t really relax in my raft. I don’t think we will be returning to Lake Norris.

I’ll probably visit Norris Dam State Park again sometime in the summer and have a better experience and add another star or two. But based on my first-​ever visit last week to camp for one night, I’m only giving it a single star for (a) having all of their bathrooms closed for the winter, and (b) not mentioning this on their web site but instead leaving up the claim that «Modern bathhouses and dump stations are provided».
I am not too proud to visit a truly primitive camp site and bring a trowel; but the trowel, unfortunately, tends to get left at home if I’m looking forward to a «modern bathhouse» after hiking and setting my tent up. The fact that temperatures were near freezing at night would have made some sort of warning about the winter bathroom closings even more polite. Instead, it’s not until you’ve walked up to the bathroom building and can see the «Closed» sign through the screen door that you even know they’re locked and disabled.
If the park insists on keeping the camp site bathrooms locked, it would be nice if they at least kept the visitor center bathrooms open all night, instead of having them automatically lock from 5pm to 7am.
The camp sites, and the whole west end of the park, is criss-​crossed by huge power lines, humming audibly above several of the primitive camp sites. It doesn’t really feel like wild and untamed nature — until you discover that it’s winter and you have to go to the bathroom.

This is one great state park. They have rustic cabins for rent near the Norris Dam and they are super reasonably priced. Then, over by the park headquarters, are the deluxe cabins — including three bedrooms with one bath, big kitchens, free firewood, and decks overlooking the natural forest scenery. They are cheaper than most of the motels at the nearby exits. The park is sort of split up between the two sides of the dam/​lake with plenty to do — as long as you like the woods, rivers, and a great big beautiful clean lake!