The lake covers portions of Davidson, Rutherford and Wilson counties and consists of 14,200 acres (5,700 ha) of water at summer pool elevation 490 feet (150 m) above mean sea level.

[2] The dam, powerhouse, lake and public lands are operated and supervised by the Corps of Engineers' Nashville District personnel.

The Natural Resource Management Office maintains three campgrounds (Anderson Road, Seven Points and Poole Knobs), eleven day-use/picnic areas (Anderson Road, Cook, Damsite, East Fork, Fate Sanders, Jefferson Springs, Nice's Mill, Overlook, Seven Points, Smith Springs and Tailwater) and twelve boat launching ramps (Anderson Road, Cook, East Fork, Fall Creek, Fate Sanders, Hurricane Creek, Jefferson Springs, Lamar Hill, Mona, Nice's Mill, Poole Knobs, Seven Points, Smith Springs, Stewart's Creek and Viverett Creek).

Marinas at the lake include Nashville Shores, Elm Hill, Four Corners, Fate Sanders, Hamilton Creek and Percy Priest.

It was also the filming location[3] for the 2013 Grammy Award-winning song "Pontoon", recorded by American country band Little Big Town.