Best lakes with dock rental houses between NC and MI?

[whitney]

Hi all -

I grew up in MI and have lived in NC for 13 years. As a new boater I'm looking to combine my newfound boating hobby with family-friendly vacations and I find myself looking for good lakes to plan extended family vacations between MI and NC.

After spending a lot of time viewing sat maps of the states in between, the rental-house-with-dock-on-a-nice-lake market looks pretty poor in the eastern midwest states. Don't see any good lakes with lots of houses in KY, OH, TN, PA. Looks like Lake Norman in NC, and Higgins/Houghton in MI are the best bet...

Any suggestions for good lakes in TN, KY, WV, OH to rent a place for 15 people with a nice dock? MI lakes are a 14 hour drive for us, and NC lakes are a 12 hour drive for the rest of our family who still live in MI... Sandy beach and a hot tub would be great

Thanks!

 

[wca_tim]

Re: Best lakes with dock rental houses between NC and MI?

you could always go a little out of the way.. and GO EAST! sounds and intercoastal for boating, ocean side for beautiful beaches, etc... the mi folks will come to you once they have a taste... just a thought

 

[pmillar]

Re: Best lakes with dock rental houses between NC and MI?

You might check around Traverse City/Leland area in addition to Houghton.

 

[75TowerOfPower]

Re: Best lakes with dock rental houses between NC and MI?

Well KY and Tn have Cumberland, Norris, and Dale Hollow for the big lakes which most are awesome. Norris is my favorite, gorgeous clean water and can rent floating houses and houses on land with docks. Not as crowded as Cumberland or Dale Hollow but nice accomendations.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Best lakes with dock rental houses between NC and MI?

Deep Creak Lake in western MD has a ton of really big rental houses. http://rentals.deepcreek.com/

I've heard good things about Smith Mountain Lake in VA also.

 

[JimKW]

Re: Best lakes with dock rental houses between NC and MI?

+1 On Deep Creek.

Just spent a long weekend there and it was great if you don't mind a very crowded lake. Then again I was there on Labor Day so not necessarily a good indicator. Probably as close as you can get to half way between NC and MI too. It's a nice clean moutain lake.

Another one that comes to mind is Smith Moutain Lake in southwestern Va. near Blacksburg. I have not been there in about 20 years though, so I have no idea what it's like now. But is it a big lake that I never hear much about. When we went there 20+ years ago we did rent a nice house with a dock.

Lake Anna in Va is pretty nice too, but I don't know if they have house rentals with docks there. We only went there on day trips when I owned a boat near Manassas, VA.

Deep Creek #1 though!

 

[boatfish]

Re: Best lakes with dock rental houses between NC and MI?

http://www.lakenormanboating.com
Best vacation houses on any lake on the east coast..

 

[Steve91T]

Re: Best lakes with dock rental houses between NC and MI?

I grew up in Charlotte and have been to Norman a few times. Last time was two years ago. Problem with Norman is the lake is so crowded! Wylie is another great lake near CLT, not as crowded, but is probably getting that way.

2 years ago when I had a boat, I boated at Smith Mountain Lake mostly. Because I live in Roanoke, we would drive just 25 minutes to the northern part of the river that feeds the lake. It was about a 30 minute boat ride down a very beautiful river. Lots of sharp turns, beautiful scenery, and hardly any other boats. Then you get to the lake. I'm sure it's grown a lot since you were there. It really is a beautiful lake.

W will probably be moving to Knoxville, TN sometime over the next few years. I know they have several really nice lakes, and so does Bristol, TN.

Hope this helps!

Steve

 

[sickwilly]

Re: Best lakes with dock rental houses between NC and MI?

Tims Ford Lake in TN. Some great houses to rent -- couple real big ones (google Sam Hatfield and click the rentals, or try timsfordlakehouse dot com). Also, you have Jack Daniels to go tour if you want some off the lake time. There is a nice golf course at teh state park. There is a great drive in in Tullahoma that shows first run movies, and has great food. Lake is not huge, but is deep and has plenty of room to get away and ski. Also, most the houses we rent with docs have deep water right at the doc, even if you are in a cove.

Lastly, there is a hell of a on the water 4th fo July firework show, attended by hundreds of boaters. They do it on the Winchester side of the lake.

 

[captain zac]

Re: Best lakes with dock rental houses between NC and MI?

Go alittle south
Lake Murray SC
alot of lake rental property
Lake Murray Vacation Rentals: Home
Lake Murray Vacation Rentals Full service Property Management for vacation rentals by owner on Lake Murray, South Carolina, Lake Murray Vacation Rentals

lakemurrayvacation.com

 

[Dave1251]

Re: Best lakes with dock rental houses between NC and MI?

Look at house boat rentals on lake Cumberland, KY. The are large enough for 15 people and you can day boat off the houseboat in many different coves along the lake. State Dock on Lake Cumberland is a good place to start looking at rentals.

 

[pine island fred]

Re: Best lakes with dock rental houses between NC and MI?

Might want to look into CLAYTOR LAKE, west of ROANOKE VA. Closest big town is PULASKI off 81. Also CHEAT LAKE outside of MORGANTOWN WVA. FRED

 

[crb478]

Re: Best lakes with dock rental houses between NC and MI?

Lake Norman is a fairly large lake and it has several resturants that you can dock at. As stated before it is crowded, but usually only on weekends and the week of the 4th of July. During the week other boats can be minimal if you go away from the main channel. You will need to get a map of the lake and learn to understand the channel markers, but there are thousands of coves where you can anchor and not be bothered. Lots of good skiing areas, or you can just cruise for hours before you need to turn around.

 

[JimMH]

Re: Best lakes with dock rental houses between NC and MI?

Lake Douglas in the Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, TN area has a good many houses. Lake Chatuge is located in Ga and NC and has lots of rentals. I have vacationed on both with my family and boat and had great times. Headed back to Chatuge this summer!