Best Tennessee Lakes for Sailing & big water

21 Tennessee lakes meet our sailing & big water bar — each has a cited public-access or conditions signal behind it. Top of the list: Kentucky Lake in Decatur County. Ranked by public boat ramps and marinas on open water (≥2,000 acres); surface acreage and live readings are shown where published.

Public boat ramps come from TWRA open data; marinas from OpenStreetMap; surface acres from USGS NHD or cited research.

  1. 1

    Kentucky Lake

    Decatur County, TN22,907 acres

    22,907 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  2. 2

    Watts Bar Lake

    Roane County, TN33,441 acres

    33,441 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  3. 3

    Old Hickory Lake

    Sumner County, TN22,500 acres

    22,500 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  4. 4

    Dallas Lake

    Meigs County, TN27,237 acres

    27,237 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  5. 5

    Norris Lake

    Union County, TN23,595 acres

    23,595 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  6. 6

    Cherokee Lake

    Hawkins County, TN29,436 acres

    29,436 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  7. 7

    J Percy Priest Reservoir

    Rutherford County, TN14,035 acres

    14,035 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  8. 8

    Douglas Lake

    Jefferson County, TN29,661 acres

    29,661 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  9. 9

    Reelfoot Lake

    Lake County, TN15,000 acres

    15,000 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  10. 10

    Fort Loudoun Lake

    Blount County, TN13,770 acres

    13,770 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  11. 11

    Dale Hollow Lake

    Clay County, TN25,511 acres

    25,511 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  12. 12

    Center Hill Lake

    DeKalb County, TN17,266 acres

    17,266 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  13. 13

    Tellico Lake

    Monroe County, TN15,159 acres

    15,159 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  14. 14

    Cordell Hull Reservoir

    Jackson County, TN11,631 acres

    11,631 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  15. 15

    Nickajack Lake

    Marion County, TN6,928 acres

    6,928 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do

More best-of lists for Tennessee lakes

Tennessee sailing & big water — frequently asked

What is the best lake for sailing & big water in Tennessee?

Kentucky Lake in Decatur County tops the list — 22,907 acres of open water. 21 Tennessee lakes qualify for this list overall.

How is this Tennessee sailing & big water list ranked?

Every lake on the list has a cited public-access or conditions signal — never an opinion. Sailing-eligible lakes have ≥2,000 acres of open water and at least one ramp or marina; we rank by access count, then by acreage. LakeVibe doesn't invent rankings: a lake only appears here when the data already supports it.

Which Tennessee lakes are best for sailing & big water?

Our top picks are Kentucky Lake, Watts Bar Lake, Old Hickory Lake, Dallas Lake. Tap any lake for its full conditions, things to do, and where to stay.