Tennessee
An Apple Watch or phone in the water after a Tennessee lake day
Norris, Douglas and Cherokee, the Nashville lakes, Tims Ford, Reelfoot Lake and Memphis
Douglas Lake sits tens of feet lower in winter than in summer, and Norris Lake falls away steeply close to the bank. On a lake day a watch strap can let go as you jump from the boat, or a phone can slide off the dock. If you are here about a lost Apple Watch, a phone or a lost ring in a Tennessee lake, this page covers what to do today and how a search is arranged.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewelry recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in Tennessee with a metal detectorist who can search there. Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the place, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
The same goes for an engagement ring, an Oura ring, earrings, a necklace, bracelet or chain, a key fob, metal-framed glasses or a hearing aid.
What Find My can tell you, and what only you can
Open Find My on another Apple device, or sign in at iCloud.com/find. Apple says that when a watch or phone can no longer send its location, for example because the battery has run out, the app shows its last known location for up to seven days. Screenshot that map. Then turn on Lost Mode. On an Apple Watch it locks the watch and shows a phone number and a message from you on the screen.
The rest comes from you: where you set out from, whether the boat was anchored or drifting, how deep the water was on you, and what you could see on shore. Drop a pin before you leave and photograph the shore.
Rather than searching for a metal detectorist near me from the marina parking lot, send us one WhatsApp message with the screenshot, the pin, the photos and the time. Tell the marina or park office too, in case it is handed in.
Areas and towns we cover in Tennessee
- Nashville and the Middle Tennessee lakes
- Knoxville and Maryville
- Chattanooga
- Memphis
- Gatlinburg
- Pigeon Forge
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Laurel Falls
- Big South Fork and Oneida
- Norris Lake
- Douglas Lake
- Cherokee Lake
- Tims Ford Lake
- Fall Creek Falls State Park
- Reelfoot Lake State Park
- Franklin and Murfreesboro
Around Tennessee, one stretch of water at a time
Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga are linked to fuller pages.
The reservoirs within reach of Nashville
Percy Priest Lake begins about ten miles (16 km) east of downtown Nashville, with swim beaches at Anderson Road, Cook and Seven Points. Old Hickory Lake has sandy beaches at Old Hickory Beach and Laguardo. Edgar Evins State Park on Center Hill Lake has no designated swimming area, and the park warns that rocks in the lake can be slippery. Radnor Lake State Park, in the city, has walking trails round its lake. See Nashville and the Middle Tennessee lakes.
Fort Loudoun Lake and the Clinch River at Knoxville
Fort Loudoun Lake is lined with a great many private docks. The Cove at Concord Park has a sand swimming beach on the lake. Melton Hill Park, beside the Clinch River, has a sandy beach, two boat ramps and a fishing pier. See Knoxville and Maryville.
Downtown riverfront and Chickamauga Lake at Chattanooga
Coolidge Park on the North Shore has a fountain and a carousel. From there the Walnut Street Bridge, for people on foot only, crosses the river to downtown. On Chickamauga Lake, Chester Frost Park has a swimming beach, fishing piers and boat docks. See Chattanooga.
Norris, Douglas and Cherokee lakes, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge
Norris Dam State Park, on Norris Lake, has a marina and boat rentals and warns of steep drop-offs close to the shoreline. Douglas and Cherokee are both Tennessee Valley Authority reservoirs. For either one, send a pin or a landmark on shore along with the name of the lake. In Gatlinburg, Mynatt Park lies along LeConte Creek with playgrounds and picnic areas. Patriot Park in Pigeon Forge has a walking path beside the Little Pigeon River. Gatlinburg is also an entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the trail to Laurel Falls, 2.6 miles (4.2 km) there and back to an 80-foot (24 metre) waterfall, starts about 5.5 miles (9 km) from it.
Tims Ford Lake, Fall Creek Falls and the Big South Fork
Tims Ford State Park sits on Tims Ford Reservoir in south-central Tennessee, with a marina, boat rentals, swimming and a fishing pier. Fall Creek Falls State Park takes in approximately 29,800 acres (about 12,000 hectares) of the Cumberland Plateau, with waterfalls, overlooks and trails. West of Oneida, the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area covers 125,000 acres (about 50,600 hectares) of the same plateau, and the road in crosses the river at Leatherwood Ford. For a ring or key fob lost on a trail, send the trail name and the last place you stopped.
Memphis parks and Reelfoot Lake
Shelby Farms Park in Memphis is 4,500 acres (about 1,800 hectares), with more than 20 bodies of water. Tom Lee Park is 31 acres (about 12.5 hectares) of Mississippi riverfront at the foot of Beale Street, with a playground and a hammock grove. Reelfoot Lake State Park has wetlands along the shore, a cypress boardwalk and a kayak launch at Kirby Pocket.
Who reads your message, and what they do with it
No passing you from person to person
The person who answers your first WhatsApp message is the one you deal with until the end. Your pin, shore photos and Find My screenshot are sent to the detectorist before they set off for the lake.
Open water off a moving boat, or the water beside one dock
A watch that went off a moving boat in the middle of Douglas or Cherokee, with no pin, is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first. Beside a dock or inside a swim area is a much smaller place to look.
We ask what was under your feet
Old Hickory Beach is sand, Edgar Evins on Center Hill Lake has slippery rocks in the water, and Reelfoot has wetlands along its shore. Where metal detecting in Tennessee means getting into the water, we ask which lake and what was under your feet.
Nothing is booked until you know the cost
We explain the costs before any search is booked.
Why the same Tennessee shore looks different in winter
The lakes are lower in winter
Reelfoot is a natural lake. The other big lakes on this page are reservoirs, and their level follows the season, not a tide. On Douglas and Cherokee the level drops by tens of feet for the winter, the state wildlife agency says. Ground that was under water in summer can be dry bank in winter, which is why we ask what month it was.
Depth is the first thing we ask
Say how deep the water was where it went in, up to your shins or over your head, and whether you were standing, swimming or on a boat. A watch or ring dropped in the shallows may stay close to where it went in, although boat wake or swimmers' feet could shift it a little.
Snow is rarely the problem
Nashville's normal July high is 90.9 F (32.7 C) in the National Weather Service figures, and a normal year there brings 4.7 inches (12 cm) of snow.
If it happened on a Tennessee lake, lawn or trail
Find My says my Apple Watch was last seen yesterday afternoon, out on Norris Lake where we had the pontoon. How long does that stay on the map?
Up to seven days, Apple says, once a device can no longer send its location. Screenshot the map today all the same. Then turn on Lost Mode and tell us where the boat was when you went into the water.
My phone slid off our rental dock on Douglas Lake into about eight feet of water. I typed lost phone in lake into a search and got nothing I could use. Is eight feet too deep?
Not for a detectorist who works under water, and some do. Eight feet (about 2.5 metres) is past wading depth. Tell us which side of the dock, how far along you stood and how close to the bank the dock sits.
My wife's earring fell out on our cabin lawn outside Pigeon Forge last night. Our son says to find a metal detector rental near me and sweep the grass ourselves. Is he right?
For a lawn and a loss from last night, he may be. Renting a detector yourself suits a fresh loss on a lawn or dry sand when you know the spot to within a few steps. A detectorist makes more sense for wet sand, water, a large area or a small item, and an earring is small.
We stopped the boat for a swim at Tims Ford and my husband climbed back on without his wedding band. Nobody dropped a pin. Can the spot still be worked out?
Quite possibly, from photos. Check every phone that was on the boat for pictures from that afternoon. The shoreline behind someone's shoulder can place the boat better than memory does. Tell us whether you were anchored or drifting.
My key fob fell out of my pocket on a run at Shelby Farms Park in Memphis. How would anyone even start in a park that size?
With the line you ran. Shelby Farms has more than 40 miles (64 km) of trails, so we work from your route, not the whole park. If a running app recorded it, send the map and mark anywhere you stopped.
My Oura ring came off at the Chester Frost Park swimming beach on Chickamauga Lake in August. It is November and the water looks lower. Does that matter?
It can. Chickamauga Lake is held several feet lower through the winter than in summer, so some of what was shallow water in August may be open ground now. Tell us how deep you stood, ankle, knee or waist.
My metal-framed glasses went in beside the kayak launch at Kirby Pocket on Reelfoot Lake. It is knee deep but I cannot see the bottom. What would help?
A fixed point and a distance. Stand where you were on the launch, photograph the water in front of you and count how many steps out they went in. Say what was under your feet, if you could tell.
Tennessee
Which lake, which dock or beach, and what Find My showed
Put it in one WhatsApp message with your photos.
A watch off a pontoon on Norris, a phone under a dock on Douglas, a lost ring on a lawn in Franklin: the message is the same. Say what it was, where and when, add your pictures, and send it on WhatsApp. We will tell you how we see the odds.