Prior to the completion of Hales Bar Dam in 1913 and the subsequent raising of the water level, the stretch of the Tennessee River flowing through the gorge was notorious for its navigational hazards, whirlpools, eddies, shoals, and one huge rock.

The location of the Tennessee River Gorge near Chattanooga, TN has puzzled geologists for decades. Why should a stream, happily on its way to the Gulf of Mexico, suddenly turn and carve a path through hard sandstone and limestone ledges to reach another valley over ten miles away?

Hales Bar Dam was located along the Tennessee River at 431 miles (694 km) above the river's mouth, near the southwest end of the Tennessee River Gorge. The dam's reservoir extended up the river through the gorge all the way to Chattanooga, and had 162 miles (261 km) of shoreline.

Before TVA dams, the gorge was well-known by early settlers who came up with very colorful names for some extremely dangerous places in the Gorge. Immense boulders littered the river bed,...

The Tennessee River Gorge was once one of the major impediments to year round navigation on the Tennessee River. There were not only unpredictable water levels but the gorge was also filled with many water hazards that were called names such as “The Suck”, “The Skillet”, and “The Pan”.