Impounds the Clinch River. Anderson County, Knox County, Roane County, Loudon County.
Seasonal water range
The steadiest water in the region. Melton Hill is run-of-river — TVA passes water through rather than storing it long term — and the level typically moves less than two feet in a day. Access built to summer water generally still works in winter, which is not true anywhere north of here.
A river more than a lake
Melton Hill is narrow, and it behaves like the river it is. Current is a real design factor in a way it is not on the broader reservoirs, particularly after rain and when Norris Dam upstream is generating. Anchoring has to hold against flow as well as wind and wake, and a floating dock that is under-anchored will show it here before it shows it anywhere else.
The compensation is the stability. Because the pool moves so little, fixed docks, permanent steps and hard walkways all work well, and the seasonal access problem that dominates design on the storage lakes barely arises.
The Oak Ridge shoreline
The stretch through Oak Ridge is the most regulated shoreline in the region, and the flat water is why: a competition rowing course sits on this reach and carries training and event traffic through much of the year. What can be built, and where, is more constrained along here than on open lake frontage.
Establish the position before drawing anything. This is the one part of the region where the use of the water, rather than the property line, is the thing most likely to determine what is possible.
Towns we cover on Melton Hill Lake
Sources
Reservoir classifications and seasonal ranges on this page come from TVA. Operating guides are revised, so check the current figure before relying on it for a design.
- TVA — Melton Hill Reservoir — checked 2026-09-01
- Oak Ridge Rowing Association — Melton Lake — checked 2026-09-01
