Day trips from Nashville · Lake
Old Hickory Lake
16 miles from downtown Nashville · about 25 minutes
US Army Corps of Engineers, Sumner and Davidson Counties
Old Hickory is a 22,500-acre Corps lake on the Cumberland River northeast of Nashville, wrapping Hendersonville and Gallatin. It is a working navigation pool as well as a recreation lake, which is why you will see barges alongside the ski boats.
- Surface
- 22,500 acres
- Marinas
- Eight commercial
- Day use fee
- $5 per vehicle, $2 walk-in, annual pass $40
Permits, fees and access
Cages Bend and Cedar Creek campgrounds run April through October. Day use areas include Rockland, Sanders Ferry and Shutes Branch. Lock 3 is free.
Swimming
Yes, at four designated beaches: Cedar Creek, Laguardo, Lock 3 and Old Hickory Beach. No lifeguards at any of them.
One thing to know first
Commercial barge traffic and lock operations near the dam make this different from a purely recreational lake. Give tows a very wide berth, and remember they cannot stop.
Access rules, fees and closures verified August 15, 2026 against the agency that manages this place. They change, sometimes without notice. Check before you drive.
The neighborhoods closest to it
If this is the kind of Saturday you want a short drive from your front door, these are the parts of Middle Tennessee that put you nearest to it.
I keep this list because it is genuinely how people spend weekends here, and because almost every guide to it is out of date. If you are weighing a move to Middle Tennessee and want to know which part of it puts you closest to the things you actually like, ask me. No pitch.