Most of the Corps lakes I camp at are locations where kayaks can be launched and used to explore shorelines, coves, and feeder streams (they are actually reservoirs drowning river systems). But none are really close to Knoxville (I am in the Arkansas Basin).
To the east, you may be in TVA country, and they have their own way of handling recreation.
The other area I am familiar with is Michigan, which has thousands of lakes, tiny to large, with recreational access, in addition to several dozen rivers for kayaking and canoeing, quiet water or white water.