Heading to Tennessee
 

We are taking a family trip to Tennessee in April. We will be flying in to Nashville, then to Chattanooga and finally to pigeon forge. I was looking for advice on must see sites.

Also looking at seeing some,lakes. When I have done some research there are some amazing water front homes there. I was,wondering how the wake boarding was there? Are any of those lakes on the path that we will be taking?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Mike

Pigeon Forge basically burnt down a few months ago!!!!!!

Well I guess mainly Gatlinburg. We had fun walking to all the moonshine distilleries in Gatlinburg and taking free shots. LOL

We obviously know about the fires but we are staying a few miles away from the fires and thought with our young family it would still be a nice way to end our trip. Staying in a really nice cabin

Norris lake is my favorite place I have been to wakeboarding. It's about an hour north of Pigeon Forge. Definitely check it out.

We started a tradition a few years ago & head to Memphis every Thanksgiving weekend. There is a ton of Civil War stuff in that area, I am sure there is in Eastern TN too, we just haven't ventured that far yet....

On that track you'll go by my Lake (Tims Ford) and then also cross Nickajack before Chattanooga and then there is Chickamauga and Watts bar as well in the Chatt to Knoxville stretch. There is Loudon and Tellico around K-town. In April may need a shorty wetsuit. Plenty of city stuff to do in Nash or Chatt. That is great time to hike if you are into that. Of course can do Smokies but also you'll be going right by south Cumberland state park, a collection of some of the best hiking around.

Lakes everywhere on that route. I live in Chattanooga. April is still a bit chilly (water in the low 60's) unless it's a warmer March and April (it's been close to 70 every day this entire week).

Any houses on those lakes. I am taking my parents and they are interested at looking at some mansion style lake homes. Interested to see what your money will get coming from California. Not going to be riding, just checking out the scene. Thanks again for all the input!

Houses all over them. A "mansion style lake home" will likely be in the range of 2-4 million dollars, there are some higher. You can get cheaper lake lots the further you get away from the city. Because TVA lowers the level on some of the lakes in the winter, depending on where your lot is, you may not have year-round deep water at your property, so these lots are a little cheaper. My brother bought a cheaper house on the lake and did a vast addition and remodeling. TVA owns the rights to most of the property on the shore so if you want to do anything near the water's edge, you have to file paperwork and get their approval. My brother cut down several trees that were in rough shape without contacting TVA first and they threatened fines. The state of TN built a few golf courses back around 2000 (designed by Jack Nicklaus). There is one in Winchester on Tims Ford Lake. One of the holes on the lake called for several trees to be cut down. TVA denied the request. To this day, you have to hit a big cut (left-to-right) ball flight to hit that fairway.