As a former employee of TVA for 17 years, it is "not" illegal to walk any where one wants on any TVA lake....except maybe at a nuclear plant site. It is not illegal to pick up a random find laying flat out.....though there are the ones who like to express it not so. Everyone hunting artifacts gets the riot act told to them in one form or the other, eventually. get ready for it, no matter what state one is in. Just listen, shake your ok and forget about it, after its over. Your kids being with you iarean asset where ever you hunt ,and them being with you will get you into more private plowed land than not, from my own experiences with my kids when they were young.
Going to the lakes and rivers one really needs a boat. Going to the effort it takes to get to most sites by land, means most of the time you may only get to hunt one spot. Starting out short excursions are all that is needed to quench the artifact bug, but with most folks once they get hooked, it's a daylight to dark expedition each time.
A boat lets one hunt many, many spots in one day. As long as you do not have any digging equipment in your hands one should have no problem. I hunt the lakes as much as I did when I visit back to our property there. There are some lakes patrolled and watched after more than others. Pickwick is an example of a heavily patrolled lake.....by comparison Watts Bar is not patrolled as heavy, except the upper end where many mounds are still visible. Since you said you were just getting into the hobby and if the kids are not into a lot of boat riding for a purpose, then plowed fields will be you best bet for the beginning....though it will produce more broken than wholes, generally speaking. Final opinion, there is nothing sfae that one wants to enjoy in these days of a country with "NO" common sense.
