(CHEROKEE LAKE REALTY WRITES A WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE GRAINGER COUNTY JOURNAL NEWSPAPER. THIS WAS A RECENT QUESTION ASKED BY A READER.)
The fact you have narrowed your search to Tennessee, then to East Tennessee, and finally to the Cherokee Lake area is a great start. Now, you’re correct, it is a large lake. Depending on water levels and how it is measured, Cherokee Lake stretches roughly 59 miles long, with 400+ miles of winding shoreline, and can reach up to 30,300 acres at full pool. If you don’t know what I mean by “full pool” that is a very important term for you to understand. Basically, the lake is not at the same water level year-round. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) manages the lake levels by up to 30 feet between winter drawdowns and summer “full pool.” I can write an entire column on this, so I will stick to your question for now.
Four counties surround Cherokee Lake: Grainger, Hamblen, Hawkins, and Jefferson. Each has its own population number, demographics, amenities, and personality. So, it really comes down to what you and your wife are seeking. But here is a quick summation. If you want to be near a mall, lots of medical facilities, and restaurants, and a lot more folks, then Hamblen is the way to go. Morristown is the center of Hamblen County for all this. A lot more people, a lot more traffic, a lot more stuff to do. Hawkins County is the opposite. Less population. A lot less in the way of shopping options. And, more rural. Jefferson County is somewhat in the middle between the counties of Hamblen and Hawkins. With Jefferson City, being much larger than anything that Hawkins County offers, but not quite as large as Morristown. Some restaurants, a Walmart and a Lowe’s, a nice hospital, and some rural areas throughout the county. Most of Grainger County is rural farmland and the cities of Bean Station and Rutledge offer a lot of lakefront housing opportunities.
Now, we were in the same spot as you. We moved here from Florida roughly 30 plus years ago. We did not want to be in a county that had lots of folks and lots of traffic. Those are some of the issues we wanted to leave behind. However, we did want to be close enough to a hospital, restaurants, banks, and some retail. In Florida, you can be stuck in one hour’s traffic, just by driving down the street. Here, things are more wide open, and you can get to just about any of these counties in 45 minutes. Big difference between here and Florida. So, we chose Grainger County. Less folks, less traffic, but close enough to Jefferson City, where we could find what we needed in 20 minutes or less. If you live at the far end of Grainger, Bean Station, you can achieve the same thing by driving to Morristown. We like the wide-open farmland of Grainger County, the scenery of Cherokee Lake, without the crowds. And to us a 20-minute drive is peanuts compared to Florida traffic. With any of these counties, if you want the options that a large city offers, there is always Knoxville, Tennessee’s third largest city. It can be reached from any of these counties typically in an hour or. So can Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Depending on traffic. These cities do come with some of the traffic issues you face in Florida. Not as bad, but close.
Bottom line, I suggest spending a bit of time in each county. Getting the “feel” for the part of the county that borders the lake, gauging driving distances to the necessary stuff, like a medical facility, and take it from there. Good luck, in my opinion, this is the finest area in Tennessee to live, and if you have any additional questions, please let me know.
