 The city of Norris, which was developed along with the dam as part of the Norris Project in the 1930s, is located a few miles south of the dam.Norris Dam State Park is located entirely within the Appalachian Ridge-and-Valley Range, which is characterized by narrow elongated ridges flanked by broad, fertile river valleys.The low rolling hills that dominate the park's terrain are underlain by sedimentary rocks— namely limestone, dolomite, shale, and sandstone— which were formed roughly 400-500 million years ago during the Paleozoic Era.