Raccoon Mountain Visitor Center Reopens to the Public

Jun 13, 2025

Contact: TVA Media Relations

Share this Story

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Raccoon Mountain Visitor Center near Chattanooga is open to the public once again after being closed since July 2024.

The center reopened on Saturday, June 7, 2025. It was closed while crews performed a scheduled dewatering and maintenance outage at the Raccoon Mountain pumped storage power plant to ensure that facility continues to provide reliable and resilient energy for years to come.

The Raccoon Mountain Visitor Center sees approximately 21,000 visitors in a typical year and is open every day except federal holidays. It is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from April through October and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. from November through March. Visitors can enjoy spectacular views of the Tennessee River gorge from the overlook or explore the 30 miles of biking and hiking trails available.

The center is staffed by members of Bicentennial Volunteers, Inc. — TVA retirees who volunteer to educate people about Raccoon Mountain and TVA history, the unique pumped storage facility on site and the power generating facilities across the seven states we serve.

The visitor center is just one of the facilities highlighted on a new website for TVA dam visitor centers at tva.com/visit. It allows people to take virtual visits to TVA dams without leaving their homes or schools.

For more information on the maintenance project at the pumped storage facility, please visit this link.

About TVA

The Tennessee Valley Authority is the nation’s largest public power supplier, delivering energy to more than 10 million people across seven southeastern states. TVA has one of the most diverse energy systems – including nuclear, hydro, coal, gas, solar and advanced technologies. TVA is making significant investments in its power system toward new generation and transmission. 

TVA is a corporate agency of the United States, receiving no taxpayer funding, deriving virtually all of its revenues from sales of electricity. TVA maintains some of the lowest energy costs and highest reliability in the nation. TVA’s residential rates are lower than those paid by 80% of customers of the top 100 U.S. utilities, and its industrial rates are lower than those paid by over 90% of customers of the top 100 U.S. utilities. In addition, TVA provides flood control, navigation, and land management for the Tennessee River system, and assists local power companies and state and local governments with economic development and job creation. Learn more at tva.com.

Contact

TVA Media Relations
865-632-6000

TVA Media Line

Our media staff is available 24 hours a day. If you cannot reach the contact above, please call our media line at 865-632-6000.