Lake Oconee

Georgia Power began planning a dam on the Oconee River in the early 1960s, filing for a federal permit in 1963 and spending the rest of the decade on surveys and feasibility studies before winning its license in 1969. Construction followed, and in 1979 Wallace Dam was completed and the gates closed. The Oconee River, which had run free through this valley since long before the state existed, backed up into a lake of nearly twenty thousand acres.

The lake was built to generate electricity, but Georgia Power understood from the start that it would also become a place for people. The company is the largest non-governmental provider of public recreation in the state, and along Oconee's long shore it laid out campgrounds, boat ramps, fishing piers, and day-use parks so the reservoir could serve families as well as the power grid. Within a generation the once-rural river valley had become one of Georgia's premier lake destinations.

Wallace Dam is not a simple hydroelectric dam but a pumped-storage plant, one of only a handful in Georgia. Its powerhouse holds six turbines, four of which can spin in either direction. At night, when demand and power prices are low, those reversible turbines run backward, pumping water from Lake Sinclair downstream back up into Lake Oconee. By day, when demand spikes, that stored water rushes back down through the turbines to make electricity when it is needed most.

For a visitor this bit of engineering has a happy side effect. Because the dam is constantly cycling water up at night and down by day, it holds Lake Oconee at a steady, high level rather than letting it draw down like a typical reservoir. That steadiness means the beaches, ramps, and docks stay usable, and the lake looks full and inviting through the seasons. The whole enormous system, in effect, is a battery hidden in plain sight beneath a recreation lake.

Lake Oconee anchors a region that markets itself, rightly, as Georgia's Lake Country. Public parks scattered around the shore, run by Georgia Power, give travelers sandy swimming beaches, campgrounds, and fishing piers where they can settle in for a day or a week on the water. The lake is known for its bass and crappie fishing, its easy boating, and the way its coves reflect the tall pines at either end of the day.

The surrounding land is as much a draw as the water. Just to the north lies Madison, widely called one of the most beautiful small towns in Georgia, its streets lined with antebellum homes it is said were too lovely to burn. To the south is Eatonton, a town rich in literary history and home to the astonishing Rock Eagle effigy mound, a giant bird laid out in quartzite by Native people some two thousand years ago. The lake and the country around it make a full and varied trip.

Lake Oconee lies just off the interstate between Atlanta and Augusta, near the town of Madison, which makes it an easy stop on a cross-Georgia drive. Reach the water through the public day-use parks and boat ramps along the shore, since much of the immediate lakefront is private. Warm-season weekends are busiest for swimming and boating, while the mild central-Georgia climate keeps the lake open and pleasant well into the shoulder seasons.

Plan on more than just the beach. Spend part of your time on or beside the water, then drive a few minutes into Madison to walk its picture-book historic streets, or south toward Eatonton to stand before the Rock Eagle mound. Between the open water, the clever dam that keeps it full, and the storied towns on either side, Lake Oconee rewards a lingering, unhurried visit to the quiet heart of the Georgia Piedmont.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.