Old Hickory Lock

A beautiful sunny day and the lock to watch… perfect :) Though I see there are people fishing here… not something I would do or recommend ha :)

Interesting that the reviews here are for some park. I’m reviewing Old Hickory Lock — you know, a lock, as in where one goes from one higher part of a river to a lower part and visa versa.
The good — its free. Run by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Old Hickory Lock allows boats to go to Nashville and back again (or in my case, to take my son just under the dam to do some catfish fishing — we didnt catch any :(. Going through the lock is interesting-​ish the first time one goes through, but thats about it.
The bad — where to start? To go through the lock requires the pulling of a wire attached to a pulley at a highly disguised location. Then, after finding the location and pulling the wire, nothing happens. There are no instructions, no intercom to speak with the people inside running the lock, no phone number — nothing. After a few minutes, one may be tempted to pull the wire again, but woe unto the foolish person that dares make that mistake. For then you will have incurred the wrath of the Lock Station Operator who (as he so unhappily informed me) has to put up with all kinds of bells and alarms every time some idiot pulls on that chain.
Of course that’s on the Old Hickory side. On the Nashville side, its even worse. The chain is even more hidden and one might even be concerned about looking for it deep within the concrete channel that large boats come out of after the lock is opened.
Poor service, poor design, poor communication but free.

Nice looking area and seemingly clean beach and tables. It all depends on the daily crowd. Playground area is for bigger kids (monkey bars and swings only). Witnessed a man smoking in the water and proceed to throw his cig out in the water where he was wading (gross), so my advise is go early or on weekdays when there are thinner crowds.

This little lock on Old Hickory Lake is a lovely place to spend a sunny afternoon. It has a small beach where you can lounge and catch some rays or take a float out into the water. Unfortunately, Middle Tennessee doesn’t exactly boast any large or impressive beaches, but there are a few spots on Old Hickory where you can have modest but fun beach experiences.
This lock is right across Old Hickory Lake from Hendersonville, and the beach itself is probably only an acre or two total. A small section of the lake is roped off for swimming and floating about, and there are usually families and couples spending time there.
My ex and I often went down to the lock for picnics, and after having sandwiches on the beach, we’d splash around in the water and talk to the friendly folks hanging around. You might think spending time on a man-​made lake front beach is a bit trailer trashy, but the area is quite clean and the people there are usually nice (though there’s occasionally an old fellow with a metal detector). There is parking enforcement, so you can gamble on parking without paying or play it safe and put $ 4 in the dropbox. Either way, it’s a pretty fun place to hang out.