Bike Trail

Here is one last shot from Raccoon Mountain. The natural area around the reservoir has miles of bike trails to enjoy.

View From the Top

...of Raccoon Mountain from the TVA visitor center. The last couple of days I have shared photos and information about the Raccoon Mountain Pumped-Storage Plant.You can see how high up the water has to be pumped from the river to the top of the mountain.Click here for more detailed information on how this pumped-storage facility was built and to see a diagram (at the bottom of the page) of what it looks like under the mountain. Pretty impressive!

Pumping House

I think the building to the right side of the lake is the "pumping station" for the Raccoon Mountain reservoir. The black line on the left of the reservoir shows the high water line. I don't know that much about producing electricity but I'll try to explain what they do here. Water is pumped up from the Tennessee River to the top of the mountain to fill this reservoir. They pump it up when demand for electricity is low, so it doesn't cost as much. Then when the demand goes up, they release the water through a tunnel down through the generators in the bottom of the mountain and it produces electricity. Click here for more information about this pumped-storage power plant.

Raccoon Mountain Road

There is a reservoir up on top of Raccoon Mountain and this little (one way) road goes around it. The reservoir isn't for drinking, but for producing electricity. I'll share more about it over the next few days.