2 utilizes a wooden flume that carries water from the reservoir down the side of the Ocoee Gorge to the dam's powerhouse 5 miles (8.0 km) downstream.

It is situated at the center of one of the nation's top whitewater rafting locations, and the dam's releases help to maintain consistent rapids on the river during warmer months.

The dam and reservoir are surrounded by the Cherokee National Forest, and the only major road access is provided via the Ocoee Scenic Byway, a section of U.S. Route 64.

[1] The dam typically schedules major recreational releases on weekends in spring and fall and five days per week in summer months.

[2] The dam's flume consists of a wooden trough situated upon a shelf carved out of the cliffside.

The growth of industry in Chattanooga some 30 miles (48 km) west of the Ocoee River in the latter part of the 19th and early 20th centuries required large amounts of electric power.

Several private entities attempted to meet this demand by building dams that could produce hydroelectricity.

In 1910, a group of financiers formed the Eastern Tennessee Power Company to use the Ocoee's hydro-power potential.

Engineers realized that if the dam were built at the ideal powerhouse site, it would be unable to utilize the potential energy from the five-mile stretch immediately upstream in which the river drops 250 feet (76 m) in elevation.