Going to the lake is a staple of summer fun for the family. We certainly have some beautiful lakes in Tennessee, but there's one lake near Nashville that also has some sinister history to it. Center Hill Lake is a little over an hour east of Nashville. Just what makes it so eerie? It's not what's on top of that water, but what's underneath. Explore it... if you dare!
Nothing is quite as spooky as a graveyard. But an underwater graveyard? Not knowing what's right under you makes it that much spookier. Center Hill Lake was once the site of a cemetery... but not now. Right?
Could it be a watery graveyard down there? Maybe. Perhaps an old, dead family home (or ten)? You never know. There are probably no lake monsters, but... well, you never know.
The Center Hill Dam was constructed in 1948 to dam the Caney Fork River.
Slowly, 18,000 acres of farmland, houses, schools, and churches became inundated. Memories and long histories all disappeared beneath the water, which would be named Center Hill Lake.
The town moved its cemeteries by exhuming the bodies and transferring them to other local cemeteries, but the locals still think the area is haunted.
I mean... I don't blame them. This whole lake is so much eerier when you learn what's beneath.
On top of all of that, Smithsonian archaeologists discovered two Native American burial grounds near the soon-to-be submerged town.
The mounds had artifacts as old as 15,000 years, which are also now under the lake's water in an area known as The Narrow.
If you want to check it out for yourself, the Canoe The Caney company leads haunted canoe rides to the haunted "Cemetery Cove."
The trips run on Friday and Saturday nights from mid-September to mid-November. See the official Canoe the Canary website for details.
Check out the Haunted Canoe trip trailer below:
Looking for something more mellow and a little less creepy? No worries! Check out this Tennessee Wine Train. Need somewhere to stay while in Tennessee? Be sure to visit VRBO for the awesome offerings there.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Get the latest updates and news
Thank you for subscribing!