Percy Priest Lake lies 15 minutes east of downtown Nashville, Tennessee, halfway in Davidson County and halfway in Rutherford County. Percy Priest Lake stretches along the southern half of Nashville city limit’s eastern border. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) owns and manages the J. Percy Priest Reservoir known as Percy Priest Lake.
Percy Priest Lake covers 14,200 surface acres with 213 miles of shoreline, an average depth of 29 feet, and a maximum depth of 100 feet. Public lands totaling 19,462 acres surround the lake, with over 10,000 acres devoted to wildlife management. The Stones River feeds Percy Priest Lake.
Percy Lake’s location gives the best lake life can offer. The western and northern borders of Percy Priest Lake are residential, featuring natural lake life with city amenities, and the east side is pure country. Lush green rolling hills with groves of deciduous trees, including hickory and poplar, plus numerous islands characterize the landscape of Percy Priest Lake.
Percy Priest Lake History
In 1938, the Stewart’s Ferry Project Congress authorized, but did not fund building a dam on the Stones River near Nashville, Tennessee. Construction of the J. Percy Priest Dam began in June 1963 and was completed in December 1967. Congress renamed the Stewart’s Ferry Project in 1968 to honor U.S. Representative James Percy Priest, a high school teacher and coach, and reporter/editor for the Nashville Tennessean.
J. Percy Priest, after citizens elected him to Congress, represented Nashville and Davidson County from 1940 until his death in 1956. The USACE demolished the town of Old Jefferson in the early 1960s to build the Stewart’s Ferry dam, and then Percy Priest Lake inundated the town. There is an ongoing mystery concerning Old Jefferson.
Davidson County, Tennessee, dates to 1783, when the North Carolina legislature created the county and named it in honor of William L. Davidson, a North Carolina officer who died in the Revolutionary War on January 1, 1782. Tennessee was part of North Carolina at that time. President Andrew Jackson once owned the site of The Hermitage, a historical museum on over 1,000 acres is located in Davidson County, Tennessee, just to the north of Percy Priest Lake.
Before settlement, beyond the Appalachian Range westward and falls into the valleys below, the region saw various Indian tribes and their hunting grounds. The magnificent country lying to the westward of this great mountain-chain, embracing Tennessee and Kentucky, found mighty few Anglo-American hunters, dressed in buckskin breeches, leggings, and moccasins with their rifles and powder-horns slung upon their shoulders moving into the territory, to trade with the Indians at first in the latter middle 1600s.
The Anglo fur traders turned hunters and trappers began to dispute with the Native Americans for a monopoly of the finest game hunting region on the continent, or so they perceived at that time, in the late 1600s. The great Cumberland Gap, nature’s passage through the Appalachian Mountains used by prehistoric Native Americans and buffalo, became the gateway to settlement through today’s Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Its western end lands in Nashville, Tennessee, and today, several highways on different routes follow the original Cumberland Gap.
Preparing for an invasion that never happened during the Civil War, both the North and the South held and cleared and chopped the terrain of the Cumberland Gap. Davidson County, Tennessee, was established in 1782. General William Lee Davidson was killed opposing General Cornwallis and the British Army's crossing of the Catawba River on February 1, 1782.
Nashville, chartered in 1806, boomed as the river trade depot and manufacturing heart of central Tennessee and became the political center of the state. Nashville is the state capital of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. Today, Davidson County’s economic diversity depends on music and entertainment, printing and publishing, tourism, healthcare, finance, insurance, manufacturing, education, agriculture, and as a distribution and transportation center.
Percy Priest Lake Bass Fishing and Other Game Fish
Predominant game species at Percy Priest Lake include, Cherokee (hybrid striped), largemouth, smallmouth, spotted, striped, white, yellow bass, bluegill, channel and flathead catfish, black and white crappie, redear sunfish, trout, walleye, and warmouth. The Percy Priest Lake fishing opportunities are best known for largemouth bass, hybrid striped bass, white bass, yellow bass, channel catfish, and crappie.
Trotlines, jug fishing, and limb lines are legal and are required to be tagged, include the owner’s name and address, to be within five feet of the shoreline, and must be checked daily. There are plenty of bank fishing spots available throughout the lake. Enhanced bank fishing and accessible fishing opportunities are available at Stewart Creek, Vivrette Creek, J. Percy Priest Overlook, and the Cook Recreation area.
Fishing from a boat, canoe, or kayak gives access to additional fishing spots. Percy Priest Lake was designed as a fishing and recreational lake. Mature trees were left below the waterline to act as a habitat for fish. Fish attractors abound throughout the lake, as evident in the fish attractor map from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA):
https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/twra/documents/fishing/fish-attractor-map-percy-priest-lake.pdf
There are almost 30 boat ramps on Percy Priest Lake, with no fees at 15 of them, and five marinas. Three designated paddle access areas are located at the Elm Hill Recreation Area, Hamilton Creek, and Nashville Shores Water Park. The TWRA stocks trout in the tailwater below the dam. Species patterns generally follow the seasons.
Early spring, and especially April, offers productive bass fishing. Largemouths are moving shallow. In September, shad migrate shallow with largemouth and striped bass following. Largemouths use the fish attractors from November through April. In the summer, steep bluff walls provide productive habitat. Productive areas for largemouths are at Spring and Fall Creek embayments in the upper reservoir, Stewart Creek embayment near mid-lake, and Suggs Creek embayment in the lower reservoir.
Early April is great for crappie fishing and they move shallow to spawn. Productive fishing areas for crappie include gently sloping banks, preferably with submerged structures like stumps, treetops, and rocks. Trolling works best in the summer months. Fish attractors are most productive for crappie from October through May in 6 to 12 feet of water. The same areas for the bass species above are productive for crappie.
The TWRA fish hatcheries spawn large striped bass females with white bass males to breed hybrid stripers. These are aggressive, fast growing, strong, fighting fish that can tolerate warmer water temperatures more than striped bass. Three-inch fingerlings are stocked into Tennessee reservoirs during mid to late June.
Growth rates of hybrid striped bass in Percy Priest Lake are extremely fast, reaching to the 15-inch harvestable size of 6 to 8 pounds. They prefer cooler water temperatures and concentrate during the summer months in the lower section of the reservoir from Hobson Pike Bridge downstream to the dam. They spend July and August about 18 to 19 feet deep and concentrate in schools over submerged humps, points, or ledges close to the main river channel.
Hybrid stripers prefer cooler water temperatures. These fish spend most of their time at depths in the coolest water providing adequate dissolved oxygen, which is usually around 18 to 19 feet during July and August. Summer boat access sites include Seven Points, Cook Recreation, Hurricane Creek Recreation and Elm Hill and Four Corners Marinas.
For white and yellow bass, head to the upstream reaches of Percy Priest Lake in March and April. White bass and yellow bass concentrate in the riverine headwaters of the reservoir to spawn in early spring. Productive fishing spots include the east and west forks of the Stones River, as well as Stewart Creek. The Mona Boat Access site on the East Fork Stones River is a good place to launch and motor or paddle upstream to riffle areas or spots with fast current and eddies. The West Fork Boat Access site on the West Fork of the Stones River provides close access to similar upstream runs with strong current and eddies, along with walk-in bank fishing access at the Percy Priest WMA, Smyrna Parks and Recreation, and Stewart Creek access site.
Fantastic catfishing is from mid-May to mid-June when channel catfish concentrate on big rock banks to spawn. Big rock habitat is predominant in the middle and lower sections of Percy Priest Lake. The Long Hunter State Park, Bryant’s Grove, and Poole Knob access sites are excellent places to launch to pursue these cats. Summer catfishing using jugs or noodling provides fast action. In summer, the cats move down 18 to 19 feet in the lower reservoir and 10 feet in the upper reservoir. Fishing Suggs Creek embayment in the lower reservoir and Stewart Creek in the middle section is popular in the summer.
Check out experienced local pro guides on our Percy Priest Lake Fishing Guides page.
Boating Percy Priest Lake
All types of water vessels are welcome at Percy Priest Lake from paddle boards, canoes, kayaks, and fishing boats to sailboats, powerboats, and houseboats. Boats ranging from pontoon party boats to ski boats are available for rent at most of the five marinas on the lake.
Percy Priest Lake employs navigation buoys, but they may not always point boaters in the right direction every time, as conditions can change or become outdated. Mature trees were left below the waterline to attract fish. Trotlines, jug fishing, and limb lines are legal and must be within five feet of the shoreline.
Percy Priest Lake is chock full of cold water, especially in spring when upper lake temperatures can be as cold as deeper water temperatures. Cold water makes it easier for a body to stay “intact” and not rise to the surface because cold muscles struggle more to function. Boaters on Percy Priest Lake need to be aware of water temperatures in colder weather.
Thousands of people visit Percy Priest Lake every year, but there is plenty of room for boaters and all types of water sports amid some of the most spectacular scenery and wildlife the South has to offer. Percy Priest Lake has an average depth of 29 feet, but goes as deep as 100 feet, providing wonderful scuba diving and swimming experiences.
Percy Priest Lake allows scuba diving. Divers must display a "Diver Down" flag in the area where they are diving. Boaters must be alert to "Diver Down" flags and keep a safe distance away. More than a few scuba diving outfitters operate around the lake and in Nashville ready to assist you in your scuba diving adventure, even if you are new to scuba diving.
The Corps of Engineers operates three swim areas on Percy Priest Lake, the Anderson Road, Cook, and Seven Points campgrounds. Swimming is prohibited at launching ramps, mooring points, marinas, public docks, and posted areas. The USACE asks visitors to please, for safety's sake, swim only in specifically designated areas, which are surrounded by “restricted area” buoys and a floating yellow pipeline.
Shop or sell a boat on our Percy Priest Lake Boats for Sale page.
Plan your trip to Percy Priest Lake by calling one of the marinas today on our Percy Priest Lake Marinas page.
Percy Priest Lake Homes for Sale
The Percy Priest Lake real estate market is considered a top ten market in Tennessee for lake homes and lake lots. Generally, there are 170 lake homes and ten lake lots or land for sale at Percy Priest Lake at any time. The average list price for lake homes is $250,000, but there are many homes and lots at other price points, lower and higher.
The eastern and northern borders of Percy Priest Lake are mainly surrounded by residential areas interspersed with parks, recreational areas, lakefront access, and boat ramps. Living on Percy Priest Lake provides the best of both city life and rural lifestyles. Percy Priest Lake is only 15 miles east of Nashville, Tennessee, the economic powerhouse of Tennessee.
Education is an important industry in Nashville. All types of educational opportunities are at hand for homeowners living at Percy Priest Lake, whether they are public, private, or religious educational schools. If homeowners want to get away from lake life, it is just a 20 minute drive to modern shopping centers, restaurants, and nightlife in Nashville.
To find your dream home, explore our Percy Priest Lake Homes For Sale page.
Percy Priest Lake Cabin Rentals and Vacation Homes
Nashville Shores Lakeside Resorts rents cabins on the north side of Percy Priest Lake. While cabin rentals are few on Percy Priest Lake and mostly available from private owners on the west side of the lake, with some on the east side, vacation homes abound on the east and north sides of the lake. The cabins that are for rent are up-to-date with modern amenities, but not usually lakefront because they are on private properties, and there are 19,462 acres of public land surrounding Percy Priest Lake.
It is a different story with vacation rental homes. Fantastic options await visitors looking for an ideal vacation home on the water that will fit their needs perfectly ranging in many sizes and options. Percy Priest Lake is home to beautiful houses, and many are listed on vrbo.com and airbnb.com. A few homeowners rent out rooms in their homes on the waterfront. Percy Priest Lake is popular, so book early for your perfect vacation home.
Find the perfect vacation home on our Percy Priest Lake Cabins page.
Percy Priest Lake Camping
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) manages three campgrounds, Poole Knob, Anderson Road, Seven Points, and Campsite 2, plus primitive campsites on the islands in the lower reservoir section of Percy Priest Lake, and 11 day-use/picnic areas, Anderson Road, Cook, Damsite, East Fork, Fate Sanders, Jefferson Springs, Nice's Mill, Overlook, Seven Points, Smith Springs, and Tailwater. Campsite 2 campground is hike-in only. It is a six-mile hike in and a 12-mile hike in total.
The USACE campgrounds are open seasonally, and closed in winter months, and those months vary yearly. The Anderson Road Campground offers 10 water and electric hook-up sites and 26 primitive sites available for reservations. Poole Knob has 90 campsites and a group shelter with showers, laundry facilities, a dump station, swimming, and a boat ramp.
The Seven Points Campground offers 58 water and electric hook-up sites, along with a boat launching ramp, a swim beach, showers, laundry facilities, a dump station, and a playground. Some of the shelters may be reserved for a fee up to 365 days in advance. When a shelter is not reserved, it is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Shelters are available for reservation from April until October. Reservations may be made through the National Recreation Reservation Service for USACE campgrounds.
The Long Hunter State Park’s 2,600 acres, which make up this area, became a state park in 1974 and has four sections, Couchville, Baker’s Grove, Bryant Grove, and Sellars Farm. The park features two primitive hike-in only campsites. Long Hunter State Park offers a variety of recreational activities including fishing and hiking and has two boat launch ramps on Percy Priest Lake, a group camp, meeting facility, and a visitor center.
Percy Priest Lake is popular with campers, and you can make reservations for tent and RV sites. Visitors have various activities to choose from while camping at this beautiful gem in Tennessee, which includes boating, camping, canoeing, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, hunting, picnicking, and a thriving musical nightlife.
Percy Priest Lake RV parks include several RV only parks, Elm Hill, the Nashville Shores Lakeside Resort, the Four Corners RV Resort, and all the USACE campgrounds accommodate RVs. All the Percy Priest Lake’s RVs park grounds are well-maintained and highly praised by RVers. Prices are reasonable and many amenities are available, like hot showers, drinking water, picnic areas, pet friendly, laundry facilities, and dump stations. Some campgrounds have 20, 30, and 50-amp electrical hookups.
Check out our list of campgrounds and RV parks for your family adventure on our Percy Priest Lake Camping page.
Percy Lake Hiking Trails
Long Hunter State Park provides over 20 miles of hiking trails displaying a variety of terrain, habitats, and range from pleasant strolls to longer, more challenging hikes for adventurous hikers. Trails include a self-guided, paved arboretum trail and the 5.5-mile Volunteer Trail that follows the lakeshore. The park offers a geo-referenced trail map app for your GPS-enabled mobile device. This trail system includes the Bryant Grove Trail, the Couchville Lake Trail, the Jones Mill Bike Trail, and the Nature Loop Trail.
The Stones River Greenway on the northern border of Percy Priest Lake is a ten-mile-long, linear park that connects the Shelby Bottoms Greenway and Natural Area to Percy Priest Lake and includes a hike and bike trail at the J. Percy Priest Dam. It originates at the Cumberland Pedestrian Bridge, a 700-foot-long suspension bridge, then heads toward the lake, passes through a tunnel beneath the Briley Parkway, whose east and west entrances greet you with the mural “The Bridging of Two Rivers”, by graffiti artists Dante Bard and Troy Duff.
The curvilinear path then winds along the Stones River and crosses the waterway twice via two pedestrian bridges. You will pass by the former antebellum estates of the Clover Bottom Mansion, Two Rivers Mansion, and the site of Andrew Jackson’s Clover Bottom General Store. It is paved in asphalt for most of its course. The greenway transitions to a 1,500-foot-long wooden boardwalk that clings to the river bank southeast of Stones River Bend Park. This passage connects to several recreational areas.
USACE Trails
Pets are not permitted on the following trails, the Bryant Grove Trail, Couchville Lake Trail, and Nature Loop Trail. Pets on leashes are permitted on all the other trails.
The Three Hickories Nature Trail is a 1.6-mile nature trail located in a wooded area in the Cook Recreation Area. This is an interpretive trail with 16 points of interest. A $5 fee for Cook recreation area is charged during the recreation season. There is an online interpretive guide for the Trail:
https://www.nrtdatabase.org/trailDocuments/767_3_Hickories_Trail_Guide.pdf
The Anderson Road Fitness Trail is a paved, approximately mile-long trail winding through a cedar glade area beside the lake.
Poole Knobs Archery Trail is 0.3 miles long and is designed with targets in the woods for archery practice. This trail also offers a small shelter and archery targets at the entrance to the trail.
Visit the Hamilton Creek Recreation Area for an 8.5 mile mountain biking trail managed by Metro Nashville Park and Recreation Department. The 6-mile Pinnacle Trail is rated hard to intermediate to expert, while the 2.5-mile Lakeside Trail is rated beginner to intermediate to hard. Please do not ride these trails when the ground is wet.
The Jones Mill Bike Trail is located in the Long Hunter State Park. It was created as a mountain bike trail, and this path is also open to hikers, but bikers have first right-of-way. The Jones Mill Trail is one of the best wildflower viewing locations in the park. The outer loop on this trail is 3.5-miles long.
The Twin Forks Horse Trail welcomes equestrians and hikers to use this 18-mile trail running along the shoreline from Walter Hill Dam to Nices Mill Recreation Area. The best access to this trail is at East Fork Recreation Area.
Percy Priest Lake Hunting
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers administers 19,462 acres of land as part of the J. Percy Priest Lake Project. Much of this land is managed for wildlife and is open to public hunting. The public may hunt on most Corps of Engineers’ managed public lands that are not developed recreation areas, are not leased to other entities, and are not designated as “No Hunting.” All Tennessee hunting rules and regulations apply.
The Percy Priest WMA-Unit 2 covers approximately 10,838 acres surrounding Percy Priest Lake and allows the majority of game specie hunting in Tennessee in an evergreen forest. Hunters may be required to purchase a permit, besides required licenses, to hunt in specific areas or for specific game animals. Special permits are required for any hunter to take game within a Wildlife Management Area (WMA). Migratory Game Bird permits are also required to hunt waterfowl or other migratory game birds on WMAs.
Game species in Tennessee include:
- Big game: white-tailed deer, bear, elk, and turkey.
- Small game: woodcock, rails, coot, snipe, and crow.
- Waterfowl and other migratory game birds: ducks, geese, dove, and sandhill cranes.
- Furbearers including beaver, bobcat, fox, mink, and coyote.
Percy Priest Lake Things to Do
There are so many things to do besides enjoy lake life at Percy Priest Lake because of its close proximity to famous and historic Nashville, Tennessee. This section covers only a few of the most exciting attractions, but be sure to know, there are tons more exciting things to do nearby Percy Priest Lake in one of the U.S.’ most iconic and historic cities. Percy Priest Lake restaurants exist mostly on the north side of the lake. Loads of southern style, palate-pleasing restaurants, nightclubs, and a thriving music scene in Nashville are just a few minutes away from the east side of the lake.
The Nashboro Golf Course honors its Tennessee heroes. It is located on the northeastern edge of Percy Priest Lake at 1101 Nashboro Boulevard, Nashville, Tennessee. Play 6,887 yards from its championship tees. This course offers a challenging round, no matter your skill level. It features premium MiniVerde greens and manicured Bermuda fairways with tree-lined fairways and scenic tee box views. In appreciation for all who are serving or have served in our military, all police officers, and firefighters, the Nashboro Golf Course set aside each Tuesday as “Heroes’ Tuesday” with free golf and only charge cart fees for Tennessee heroes and first responders.
Nashville Shores Lakeside Resort offers a dog only swim day once a year…What a blast! There is so much more to the Nashville Shores Lakeside Resort this playground has in store for fun on and off Percy Priest Lake. It is located at 4001 Bell Road, Hermitage, Tennessee. For starters, play in their water park, go zip lining, rent a lakefront cabin with all modern amenities or one of their 100 RV sites, or rent a jet ski or pontoon boat. This resort hosts unique events as well, like dog swim day, and activity programs galore. It is open on the weekends.
The Stones River National Battlefield takes you back in time, to the Civil War. The Battle of Stones River began on the last day of 1862 and was one of the bloodiest conflicts of the Civil War. This battle produced important military and political gains for the Union, and it changed the people who lived and fought in Tennessee forever. Pick up a park brochure and study the map because touring the Stones River National Battlefield takes you on the U.S. history adventure of your lifetime.
The Stones River National Battlefield tour covers six locations in the north-central section of the battlefield. Tour signs along the road point the way. Five of the stops are concentrated west of Old Nashville Highway, while the sixth, McFadden Farm, takes some maneuvering through the streets of Murfreesboro to reach. Because of this, the tour is best done in a car. If it weren’t for the McFadden Farm stop, you could walk or bike the entire tour.
In addition to the six tour stops, you can visit the headquarter locations of Union General William Rosecrans and Confederate General Braxton Bragg. These locations are not part of the tour and require driving roughly a mile outside of the park boundaries. A thorough tour of the battlefield takes about 3 hours, which includes hiking the trails at each stop when weather conditions allow. Add another 30 minutes to visit the headquarter sites. Find the Stones River National Battlefield about 33 miles southeast of Nashville, or about 11 miles south of the southern border of Percy Priest Lake at 3501 Old Nashville Highway, Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
At Percy Priest Lake, you are less than one hop, skip, and a jump from the historical Grand Ole Opry where country music was born and came together through centuries of influences from long-gone musicians. Country music came in the form of the African slaves, who brought their culture and instruments with them, Christian gospel spirituals, Irish and Scottish immigrants, and many more cultures, who embodied hard work. Then this genre became further influenced by the Blues revolution, early rock from the likes of Elvis Presley and Fats Domino, Motown, Classical Rock and Roll, and today, even Rap. The Grand Ole Opry is a better-not-miss historical lesson in American music evolution. Find this historical musical diamond at 600 Opry Mills Drive,
Nashville, Tennessee.
The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson, is one of the largest and most visited presidential homes in the U.S. Today, the Hermitage is a 1,120-acre National Historic Landmark with over 30 historic buildings. The Hermitage welcomes 200,000 annual visitors, including 30,000 schoolchildren, from all 50 states and many foreign countries. Another Tennessee history lesson is found in touring the Hermitage.
President Jackson performed as a glorious general in the War of 1812 and secured the U.S. Constitution forever against Britain’s rule. Then, President Jackson became the scourge of the southeastern Native American Tribes with his Indian Removal Act of 1830, which became the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma. The Hermitage is located at 4580 Rachel’s Lane, Hermitage, Tennessee, about 22 miles north of Percy Priest Lake.
Tours and Tickets by Hick Chick Tours offers a delicious pub crawl experience through Nashville. Hick Chick’s Honky Tonk Pub Crawl is a walking sightseeing tour of historic downtown Nashville. Patrons wonder in awe at this real Nashville experience and receive discounts and freebies to bars and restaurants downtown. Tickets are $28 per person.
Plan the perfect day trip or vacation on our Things To Do at Percy Priest Lake page.
Percy Priest Lake Weather & Climate
Percy Priest Lake sees an average of 49 inches of rain per year, with four inches of snow and 205 days of sunshine. The winter low in January is 27 degrees and the summer high in July is 89 degrees. May, September, and October are the most comfortable months for this region. January and December are the least comfortable months.
Keep your eyes on the skies with our Percy Priest Lake Weather Forecast page.
Percy Priest Lake Zip Codes
Davidson County: 37217, 37214, 37076.
Rutherford County: 37013, 37088, 37122.
Percy Priest Lake Flora and Fauna
Birds to watch for at Percy Priest Lake are indigo buntings, and northern bobwhite, among other grassland birds in season. In the fall, rose-breasted grosbeak are common sightings. In the summer, prairie warblers, indigo buntings, eastern bluebirds, blue grosbeaks, and field sparrows are abundant. Bald eagles nest year-round, and peregrine falcons could pass through in spring and fall. Northern harriers are regular residents in winter.
A variety of wildlife, including bats, bears, bobcats, chipmunks, deer, foxes, herons, jumping mice, night mussels, rabbits, salamanders, black shrews, red squirrels, raccoons, and frogs, among other nature creatures call Percy Priest Lake their home. As far as plants and trees go, visitors to Percy Priest Lake can find wildflowers growing out of blackberry brambles in the spring and summer.
The flora in the middle Tennessee region gifts so many more plants and trees because its soil is so fertile. The Tennessee soil is rich with limestone beds, and the many waterways feed its soil with alluvium. The region’s trees populate its landscape with eastern red cedars, dogwoods, southern red oaks, sugar maples, and yellow poplars. Tennessee’s wildflowers put on a spectacular show during their long growing season from springtime to wintertime.