Located on the Sipsey Fork of the Black Warrior River, it covers over 21,000 acres (85 km2) [1] in Cullman, Walker, and Winston Counties.

The three-fingered reservoir has over 500 miles (800 km) [1] of shoreline, and at full pool has a level of 510 feet (160 m).

[3] Nearby towns include Bremen, Cullman, Good Hope, Crane Hill and Dodge City in Cullman County; Curry and Jasper in Walker County; and Addison, Arley, Houston, and Double Springs.

Due to the demand of coal along the Black Warrior River in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, a series of locks and dams was added north of the city of Tuscaloosa.

Construction began on November 25, 1957, and the dam was formally dedicated on May 23, 1961 (63 years ago) (1961-05-23) at a cost of $29 million.