Norris Dam State Park - Geographical Setting

Geographical Setting

The Clinch River flows southwestward for 300 miles (480 km) from its source in southwestern Virginia to its mouth along the Tennessee River near Kingston. Norris Dam is located just over 79 miles (127 km) upstream from the mouth of the Clinch, near the Anderson-Campbell county line. Cove Creek, which flows down from its source in the Cumberland Mountains roughly 25 miles (40 km) to the northwest, empties into the Clinch approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Norris Dam. The Powell River, which also rises in southwestern Virginia, empties into the Clinch approximately 10 miles (16 km) upstream from Norris Dam. Norris Lake spans a 73-mile (117 km) stretch of the Clinch from the dam to the base of River Ridge at the Claiborne-Grainger county line. The lake also spans the lower 56 miles (90 km) of the Powell River from the river's mouth to a few miles south of Harrogate, and the lower 12 miles (19 km) of Cove Creek.

The Norris Dam Reservation, which is managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority, consists of the area immediately around Norris Dam and immediately downstream from the dam on both sides of the Clinch. The western half of the reservation, which is largely undeveloped, is known as the River Bluff Small Wild Area. Norris Dam State Park consists of two sections along the south shore of the lake immediately east and west of the Norris Dam Reservation. The west section spans the lower 4 miles (6.4 km) of Cove Creek and includes the Andrews Ridge and West Campground section and the park offices and recreation areas. The east section spans a 5-mile (8.0 km) section of the Clinch between the dam and the Sequoyah Marina. The Lenoir Museum Cultural Complex— which is also part of Norris Dam State Park— consists of a small patch of land downstream from the dam on the east side of the river. Other protected areas in the vicinity include the Cove Creek Wildlife Management Area, which spans most of the lake's north shore opposite the state park, and the vast 24,000-acre (97 km2) Chuck Swan State Forest, which covers parts of the Clinch River upstream from the park and the lower portions of the Powell River.

The Norris Freeway section of U.S. Route 441, which crosses the dam and provides access to both sections of the park and the Lenoir Museum, connects the Norris area to Lake City to the west and Knoxville to the south. Interstate 75 passes roughly 5 miles (8.0 km) west of the park. The city of Norris, which was developed along with the dam as part of the Norris Project in the 1930s, is located a few miles south of the dam.