Our first time visiting the lake and we rented a ski boat from Springs. They were super casual when…read moretaking my reservation, kind of made me nervous about showing up without a deposit or anything. But sure enough, it's a SUPER CASUAL place, so it makes total sense. The people that work there are busy, but incredibly friendly. This is a "no frills" kind of marina, but that's lake life and it adds to the charm of it all. They have a simple marina with the basics as far as food/snacks go. They have a great little diner/bar with very reasonable-priced draft beers. But what you go here for is the soft serve ice cream. I wish I'd taken a photo. It seems like that twist cone was a mile high. And it was SO GOOD. Wow. Back to the boats. We made a reservation a couple weeks out. I wanted to be sure the weather was good before committing to Saturday and when we arrived, I was thrilled at how easy it was to add a day onto our reservation. Three days - roughly $1k - not bad. And while the boat was a little older (they usually replace them yearly), it was in excellent shape and was VERY fast. Much faster than other ski boat rentals I found. And the "deck" on the back was perfect for getting on and off the boat. The only thing I wish we'd had was an anchor. They don't include that, but I didn't even think to ask about it. It's very costly when renters lose anchors, so that's probably why it doesn't include one. Our boat was gassed up and ready to roll. If you are new to boating, do not expect much training. We literally hopped in the boat, backed out and took off. You don't need a license to rent a boat in Tennessee. Not sure if we'll be in the same area next year, but if we are, 100% we will rent from Springs Dock for sure. And if we're not, we'll stop in for ice cream. They are reliable and friendly and I simply wouldn't go anywhere else to rent if in the area. p.s. We DID run into one tiny issue while wakeboarding. There was a loose screw on the Bimini Top frame that popped out while my son was wakeboarding. We called them and they told us to bring it back ASAP. They were able to find a new screw, secure it quickly, and get us back on the water fast. GREAT service. p.p.s. There are lot of floating houses at this marina. So you do have to navigate a rather long no wake zone to get to the marina. Something helpful to keep in mind.

Yes we love the dock it is so fun every time we go to the boat and the food is amazing it's just a…read morelittle more fun every time we go

We had the BEST experience with River Rat whitewater rafting! From start to finish, everything was…read morerun so well--extremely organized, clean facilities, and perfectly on time. Every staff member we met was funny, friendly, and incredibly knowledgeable, which made the whole day even more enjoyable. Our guide, Ocean, was AMAZING! She knew it was our first time and went out of her way to explain what to expect, making us feel confident and excited. She turned our first rafting trip into an unforgettable adventure--full of laughs, thrills, and a few "core memories" we'll be talking about for years. If you're thinking about going rafting, do it--and go with this company. You won't regret it! We did try other rafting companies after and that was a mistake. We will always come back to Ocean & River Rats.

We had a blast!! Every outfit puts in at the same place but this outfit is the last to leave the…read moreriver.

We had a great experience renting a peddleboat! We weren't familiar with the area but the staff…read moreprovided great recommendations for coves to check out on the lake. He even recommended some hiking locations close to where we were staying. Very knowledgeable and definitely a highlight of our trip, would love to come back and try the other watercraft options!

We had so much fun kayaking. The owner runs a one-man show. He is super nice! Just park and walk…read moredown to the left side of the marina. He has a little awning to wait under and it may take a while if it is busy but it is worth it. $30 for two hours. Not too bad for Noris lake!

Great food with perfect atmosphere. Sit outside weather permitting. The pretzels with cheese were…read moredelicious.

Saturday after playing golf that morning 3 pontoon boats…read morewith 10 each set out on the lake. Located Near Fair Field Glade near Crossville, Tennessee. Called the golf Capital of Tennessee, we see many retirees coming into this area! It did drizzle on us but shucks we were all in swim wear . Boats were well maintained and not difficult to handle. We did stop for a swim after the rain. Wonderful time, good friendship, dancing aboard the pontoons. We brought our own music on board to enjoy!

Just spent an amazing two days on the lake. We rented the 30' Pontoon boat from Sequoyah for both…read morethe 3rd and the 4th. This is a wonderful boat for cruising and just hanging out on the water of Norris Lake. With room for 15 adults this boat provides the perfect platform for entertains friends and family. After a day on the lake, let someone else do the cooking with dinner inside the Marina restaurant, or on the outdoor patio. Follow me on Yelp for more fun stuff to do in and around Knoxville.

One of the bigger nicer marinas at Norris lake. The staff at all the marinas are just the nicest…read moremost helpful people. Love this lake. It's so peaceful. We usually rent a boat for a few days ... not expert boat drivers. When we drive the boat up to all the marinas to get out or refuel they all are quick to help get us tied up to the dock and secured. All the employees have been friendly and get attitude. We have rents boats here but this time we were staying near another marina. They all are good to rent from ... I'd suggest you rent from the one near where you stay. the lake is huge so distance is a big factor.

Nice marina, great gift shop, great place to put your boat in and enjoy the lake! Located in…read morebeautiful Burnside!

I highly recommend renting a boat from here if you are staying in this area of Lake Cumberland. We…read morebooked our boat online several months in advance to ensure they had one available. We got a pontoon boat and we added on a tube as well. The check in process was smooth and efficient. Everyone that we came in contact with was very friendly and helpful, especially the guys who helped us on and off our boat. Our boat was clean, comfortable, and it even had a Bluetooth option for the boat speakers. Overall we had a fantastic experience.

We've been staying at Powell Valley every year we've come to Norris Lake. We love the location and…read moreall of our family is able to be together. When we heard new owners took over this year we were extremely excited as the rooms were not great and the water pressure was poor at best. When we checked in this year it was already a mess. An employee had to jump up and look in each window to find an empty room since the room we were told we were in was occupied. After 3 hours we were finally in a room. The rooms were much nicer! The water pressure was amazing! Ok this is looking better. The price increased more than 2x from 2020 to 2021 so we were expecting it to be nicer. The marina is completely redone and great. The new food is perfect. Sadly that is the last positive thing I'm going to have to say. While on our stay we never got a single fresh linen/towel/wash cloth etc. even though we asked for them every day. "Sorry they aren't getting enough clean ones to me" is what the lady in charge of cleaning told us. There were NO blinds/curtains in the entire place. So if you wondering if you are being watched, any of the house boats or any one on the lake could get 11 free shows. This also made sleeping very difficult. We were traveling with two small children and were excited to see they had wifi, helps with rainy day entertainment and night time winding down. It was down the entire time we were there as was the TV. This was not a fun experience especially since cell reception here is non existent. So double the price for no curtains, loud neighbors until 2-3 with paper thin walls, no tv or wifi, and no clean linens. Yeah I'm not thrilled. Now for the main reason for a one star. Chandra. As a business owner myself the one person that is the most important is your manager. The face that people see can makeup for a bad time or make a good time even better. But wow this lady was beyond rude, didn't care at all, and just had no ability to be professional. Told us after we told her what we'd like to see improved "yeah it was a real sh*$ show this year". What?! Not sorry. That and yeah it was busier than we expected are all you can say. They have ZERO organization, they didn't know what rooms were full or not, they attempted to kick out my in laws as they were supposed to check out Saturday (clearly paid through Sunday on all emails sent back to them l), and then had the audacity to say "I'm sick of you people's attitude". We met Brad during our stay and the guy seems nice but he needs to find new help yesterday. We will never be back! I understand people are short staffed and things come up but the lack of professionalism or even common courtesy is something that can't be looked past. Pay over 2x for a better looking room but the worst experience ever.

We had a great experience here . Norris Lake is beautiful and clean. The resort is Clean and staff…read moreis super nice . We stayed at their hotel and it was great. Loved the private patio with the room over looking the marina and lake . The restaurant Bar was delicious and have a great patio too. Their rental boats were awesome . We will be back .

We purchased a cabin here in 2022 with intent of moving to another marina. Upon getting to know…read morethe staff AND owner we decided keep cabin here. The change made since we have arrived are INCREDIBLE! Many of the old boats left from previous ownership that were dilapidated have been removed which has made the Marina look sooo much better! The increase of options in the Marina store with merchandise / food has expanded (not to mention the fountain drinks AND adult beverages). The pricing of adult beverages doesn't leave you wishing you had stopped in town, in fact some are cheaper than you can buy at the grocery! And entertainment???? July 4th fireworks last couple years has been pretty awesome! Every other weekend live music has been great (may be one who ended the night in Rocky Top with New York / New York but I don't see him back on the calendar! lol) And if you do have a cabin at Straight Creek and haven't ventured up to the Marina when they have an event, I hope you do! Great group of people are there! Moving on to staff...FIRST, let me say what they do is not contained inside the Marina store and the gas pumps. These employees take care of a heckuva lot more behind the scenes that what anyone cares to think of. Strong winds can come thru and break a line and a cabin gets loose, as a result a water line breaks free (sometimes unknown until cabin / boat owner arrives), oh and let's not forget (we've all been guilty) some forgot to arrange to have their tanks pumped and they call upon arrival wanting an immediate fix. The entire staff does everything they can do take care of all the requests we send in in a timely manner. Have there been hiccups? Suuuure, none of them are Gods but in moments when i've seen them stop to take a quick breather...I've seen them jump back up on to the next task. If you are looking for a new Marina home I hope people will give Straight Creek a look! I don't think you will be disappointed with what the Marina and its staff have to offer!

Derek the owner is amazing ! He goes above and beyond to make you feel at home . My son was getting…read moreengaged on the Fourth of July weekend so he set up a platform just for him to watch the fireworks and even had a drone to record the event . He is amazing and we thank him for all he did for us! He went way beyond the call of duty ! The marina is nice and clean and wonderful people to meet and get to know .

For 2025 season best restaurant food on the lake. Yes. It offers little something for everyone and…read morea couple nice non-fried offerings such as amazing roasted brussels sprouts. The staff is friendly and ample shade for hot summer days. Only regret is a limited beer offering and no mixed drinks and only a cider if you're lucky. So if you want an adult beverage with your meal and aren't a beer drinker you might want to try some other place

Let me start off by saying this campground is difficult at best to find any information about…read moreonline. I tried to go to their website off several searches and nothing came up that was valid. I had been told about this site when passing through the area because of their water views and fair pricing. I was fortunate that the phone number on the site at least worked so I could find them. If you follow GPS, I wish you luck, if yours does what mine did it took me in circles and then kept saying rerouting. I opted to call the campground and their directions were so much more simplistic. With all that being said, once I arrived the tent camping here was nice. My site was level and on one of the many roads of camping. I was no where near the water, but that was ok because my site seemed to be far enough away from louder traffic which was going in and out of the marina area so that made my stay a bit more pleasant. I decided to talk a walk around camp and it seemed like there had been some upgrades around the campsite, still other areas looked like they still needed a bit of work. Specifically in the way of the long term campers area which looked a bit junky in some areas. I noticed that some of the RV paths had long hoses reaching across to access water, I am not sure if that was because their water wasn't working or if there were not enough spigots available. It looked like there were many using piggy backs. The playground looked fairly new, the restaurant which floats on the water smelled delicious from a distance and the restrooms were very clean. The staff was so friendly on my stay, someone drove past on a golf cart to welcome me when I had settled in and we had a great chat to which they told me there is a continued effort to make improvements to better accommodate campers including a project to potentially widen the roads on the RV loops. This place has some great potential but isn't quite there yet. I am interested in keeping up with this place to see how it changes over time. TIPS: * When you are in this area you are near 2 state parks which have a lot of hiking and water options as well. Both of these can be traveled to via boat from the marina. * In Rocky Top there is a very interesting historical exhibit to visit about the miners and the war which took place with these miners.

I've been going here for the last 8 years and every year since I've started going nothing has…read morechanged for the most part. I prefer this side of the lake anyway so you don't have a ton of options but for what you pay, improvements should be made. They redid the dock story last year after new ownership and that's about it. The steps to the parking lot are over grown with weeds and unusable, and the overnight boat slips are always filled with trash, nothing to tie up to, and half of the slips are unusable. I won't stop coming here, but this place has a lot of work to do.

best cabins and view. me and my family have been going here for the last 15 years and nothing but…read moregood things have come out of it. they recently went under new management and changed the name to lake cumberland marina and the renovated the dock and marina. still miss the old marina but it was a much needed improvement. the cabins were remodeled this year 2021 and the updated the couch added a coffee maker which is a keurig so make sure you bring k cups and added a few more new kitchen appliances. the bathroom had a new shower head and a new curtain. the bedrooms are moved around and better beds. the only down side is that the new couch does not fold out into a fold out bed which is what my family heavily relied on before the renovation. it is still a nice couch dont get me wrong but it is one less bed for one or two less people. you can call the marina and ask for an air mattress which was a pretty good size. the beach is still the same with the old swings and playground but it is still a lot of fun. we always go with our other family and rent the double decker pontoon boats with the slides and they never fail to make my family happy. the boats did get new motors which is nice so at least you can go a little faster than before but not as fast. overall it is always a great stay at this marina.