Blue Ridge Dam: history, size, safety study and sirens

Blue Ridge Dam is TVA’s earthen dam on the Toccoa River in Fannin County, Georgia, near the Mineral Bluff community and about two miles northeast of the city of Blue Ridge (TVA). It holds back Lake Blue Ridge (TVA’s Blue Ridge Reservoir). It was built in 1925-1930, went into service in 1931 and has belonged to TVA since 1939.

Who built it, and when

The Toccoa Electric Power Company, a subsidiary of the Tennessee Electric Power Company (TEPCO), built Blue Ridge Dam between 1925 and 1930 (TVA). The dam went into service on July 1, 1931. At the time, TVA says, it was the most modern hydro plant in the TEPCo system and the largest earthen dam in the Southeast (TVA). TVA bought the dam from TEPCO in 1939.

The builders used a “semi-hydraulic filling” technique that is no longer used in modern dam construction (TVA). That detail is central to TVA’s current safety study, covered below.

Blue Ridge Dam by the numbers

A note on power: TVA’s current plant page, updated in July 2026, lists one generating unit at 16 megawatts. TVA’s older history and safety pages say 13 MW, so TVA’s own pages differ. We use the plant page. TVA lists the dam’s benefits as flood control, recreation, water supply, environmental stewardship and low-cost, clean power (TVA).

Visiting the dam

TVA has a scenic overlook above the dam and a shaded picnic area near the powerhouse (TVA). Georgia DNR calls the shore access here the Blue Ridge Dam Recreation Area and suggests it for bank fishing for stocked rainbow trout. Below the dam, a TVA canoe and kayak launch opens the Toccoa River to paddlers (TVA). See our fishing guide and Toccoa River guide.

The dam sirens: what to do

In March 2022 TVA placed dam-warning sirens in Tammen Park, in Mineral Bluff, on Toccoa River Forrest Road and in McCaysville (TVA). TVA tests them once a year, and its mailer describes the annual test in June. TVA’s instruction is simple: if you are near the river and hear the sirens, feel a severe earthquake or see rapidly rising water, get off the river to high ground immediately (TVA).

TVA names McCaysville, Mineral Bluff, Copperhill and Pleasant Hill among the communities downstream of the dam (TVA).

The safety study, as of October 2026

As of October 2026, TVA says the dam is currently safe for normal operations and is studying ways to reduce long-term risk (TVA). TVA names two issues. The way the dam was built makes it vulnerable to a strong earthquake, and cracks could form in an extreme one (TVA). The concrete slab of the spillway has also deteriorated, though TVA rates the chance of a spillway failure causing an uncontrolled release as very low.

As of October 2026, TVA says it has no active plans to change the reservoir's seasonal levels, either temporarily or permanently, while the study is under way. (TVA, checked Oct 18, 2026)

As of TVA’s July 2, 2026, update, the study is scheduled to be completed during calendar year 2026 and will inform which changes, if any, are made (TVA). TVA says a new dam is only one of many options and that it is premature to say what will be done until the study is finished. It intends to issue a public notice and seek public comment under the National Environmental Policy Act. As of Oct. 18, 2026, a Federal Register search found no such notice for Blue Ridge Dam. No drawdown, new dam or construction date has been decided. We track the details in our dam safety study article, and our lake level guide explains the normal yearly curve.

An earlier repair, per Wikipedia

For history only: Wikipedia, not a TVA page we could fetch, reports that TVA lowered the lake for a dam rehabilitation project starting in July 2010, with the drawdown portion finished in April 2011 (Wikipedia). Citing TVA’s 2009 environmental assessment, Wikipedia says that project repaired the penstock and stabilized the intake tower and dam faces (Wikipedia).

• Dam

  Blue Ridge Dam (TVA)

  TVA earthen dam built 1925-1930 by the Toccoa Electric Power Company and bought by TVA in 1939; 175 ft high and 1,553 ft long, with one 16-MW generating unit. TVA says the dam is safe for normal operations; a safety study is scheduled to finish in 2026 and TVA reports no active plans to change seasonal lake levels (as of its July 2026 page).

  • Toccoa River near Mineral Bluff, about two miles northeast of the city of Blue Ridge (Fannin County, Georgia)

  Source: Tennessee Valley Authority, checked Oct 18, 2026

• Park Not yet confirmed

  Blue Ridge Dam overlook and powerhouse picnic area (TVA)

  TVA lists a scenic overlook above the dam and a shaded picnic area near the powerhouse. Georgia DNR calls the shore access here the Blue Ridge Dam Recreation Area and suggests it for bank fishing for stocked rainbow trout.

  • At Blue Ridge Dam, Toccoa River (Fannin County, Georgia)

  Source: Tennessee Valley Authority; Georgia DNR fishing forecast, checked Oct 18, 2026

• Boat ramp Not yet confirmed

  Toccoa River canoe and kayak launch below Blue Ridge Dam (TVA)

  TVA's launch below the dam gives nonmotorized boaters access to the Toccoa River, which becomes a Class I-II float when the dam is generating. The dam has a siren warning system: if you hear sirens or see rapidly rising water, get off the river to high ground.

  • Toccoa River below Blue Ridge Dam (Fannin County, Georgia)

  Source: Tennessee Valley Authority, checked Oct 18, 2026

• Fishing

  Toccoa River tailwater below Blue Ridge Dam (trout)

  Georgia DNR stocks rainbow and brown trout in the Toccoa below the dam every year and calls it an excellent destination because of high catch rates. Most fish are 8-12 inches, with a chance at a fish over 20 inches. Water levels change fast when TVA generates, so heed the dam's siren warning system.

  • Georgia fishing + trout license (16+)
  • Toccoa River downstream of Blue Ridge Dam toward McCaysville (Fannin County, Georgia)

  Source: Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division, checked Oct 18, 2026

• Town

  Mineral Bluff

  The community nearest Blue Ridge Dam (TVA's mailer locates the dam near Mineral Bluff) and the site of one of TVA's dam-warning sirens. It is home to the historic L&N depot, where the Tri State Model Railroaders run Ride the Rails motor-car trips over the Toccoa River iron bridge.

  • Mineral Bluff, GA 30559 (Fannin County, Georgia)

  Source: Tennessee Valley Authority; Blue Ridge Mountains CVB, checked Oct 18, 2026

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