Old Hickory Lake: A Local's Guide

Old Hickory Lake runs along the edge of Hendersonville and shapes the place. Houses back onto it, the parks front onto it, and from roughly May the whole town reorganises itself around being on the water.

Getting on the water

Sanders Ferry Park, 513 Sanders Ferry Road, has a boat ramp and an ADA-compliant fishing pier, plus around 70 acres of park behind it. It is the most straightforward public access point in town.

There are further access points around the Hendersonville shoreline. The Drakes Creek embayment — off the main channel, into the town's own shoreline — holds coves that stay noticeably calmer than the middle of the lake when it is busy with wakes, which matters if you are paddling rather than driving.

What people do out there

• Fishing, from the pier or a boat
• Kayaking and paddleboarding, best in the quieter coves
• Boating, which is most of the town from Memorial Day onward
• Walking the shoreline paths, which is free and underrated

The part we are qualified to talk about

We run an aesthetics practice, so here is the one thing we would add to any lake guide, and it is not a sales pitch.

Sun exposure interacts with several of the treatments people book here — laser treatments in particular, both before and after. That is not a reason to avoid the lake. It is a reason to think about when you schedule things.

Practically:

• A course of laser hair removal takes several sessions over months. Starting in autumn means you finish before the boat comes out. Starting in June means managing sun avoidance through the exact months you least want to.
• Resurfacing treatments need the treated skin protected afterwards. Scheduling one for the week of a lake weekend makes the aftercare harder than it needs to be.
• Everyday sun protection matters year-round, and reflected light off water is easy to underestimate.

None of this is dramatic. It is just scheduling, and it is easier to get right in advance than to work around afterwards. We have written more about laser timing through the seasons.

Our favourite version of the lake

Early, before the boats. The water is flat, the light is good, and you can hear birds rather than engines. If you have only ever seen Old Hickory on a July afternoon, you have seen the busiest possible version of it.

Details verified September 2026. Places change their hours and their menus — check before you set out, and tell us if something here is out of date.