Lake Allatoona is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir

Reservoir

A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...

 in Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, located in northwestern metro Atlanta

Metro Atlanta

The Atlanta metropolitan area or metro Atlanta, officially designated by the US Census Bureau as the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the ninth-largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States...

. The lake is mostly in southwestern Cherokee County

Cherokee County, Georgia

As of the census of 2000, there were 141,903 people, 49,495 households, and 39,200 families residing in the county. The population density was 335 people per square mile . There were 51,937 housing units at an average density of 123 per square mile...

, but a significant part is in southeastern Bartow County, and a small part in Cobb County near Acworth

Acworth, Georgia

Acworth is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,425. Acworth is located in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains along the southeastern banks of Lake Acworth and Lake Allatoona on the Etowah River.Acworth's nickname is "The...

. Cartersville is the nearest large town to the dam. Red Top Mountain State Park

Red Top Mountain State Park

Red Top Mountain State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is located in the northwestern part of the state, on the northwestern edge of metro Atlanta, in southeastern Bartow County near Cartersville...

 is located on its shores, on the peninsula

Peninsula

A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....

 between the Etowah and Allatoona arms of the lake. Most of the north side of the lake remains protected from land development

Land development

Land development refers to altering the landscape in any number of ways such as:* changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing...

 because of its isolated location, mostly blocked by the lake.
Allatoona serves seven authorized purposes:

1. Flood Control
2. Hydropower generation
3. Water supply
4. Recreation
5. Fish and wildlife management
6. Water quality
7. Navigation

There are several private marina

Marina

A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters....

s and public boat ramps.

Allatoona also supplies much of the drinking water

Drinking water

Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...

 for the three counties it is in.