The outdoor pool is closed now that the City's summer swim season is over. By early November, a regular loop around Chastain Park is mostly joggers, dog walkers, and the sound of tennis balls from Chastain Park Avenue. This year the quiet months also carry the largest change the park has seen in a long time, and it will happen in a part of Chastain most visitors have never set foot in.
The Chastain Park Conservancy calls it the Palisades Project, describing it as one of the most significant improvements to the park in decades. The project covers about 30 acres of woods along Nancy Creek. When it is finished, that land will be open to the public. Until then, the winter calendar runs on the familiar ground. Both parts of the season are worth knowing about.
The 30 Acres Behind the 16th Hole
Most people know Chastain as its busy core: the PATH loop, the playground, the tennis center, the horse park, and the amphitheater. The Palisades site is a different place. B98.5 reported in August that the site sits between the golf course's 16th hole and Nancy Creek. Urbanize Atlanta's July coverage puts it near the park's south end, along Nancy Creek and Lake Forrest Drive.
Conservancy president and CEO Rosa McHugh told Simply Buckhead that the project will open a section of the park that has long been inaccessible. Chastain draws more than 3 million visitors a year, according to the same article. Even so, much of this creek corridor has been something people drive past on Lake Forrest Drive or see from the fairway, with no way in on foot.
The plan grew out of the 2025 Chastain Park Comprehensive Plan Update, which the Atlanta City Council approved after a public engagement process. According to the Conservancy, the request it heard most often in that process was for more passive greenspace, meaning places to walk, explore, and sit quietly.
What the Build Adds
Lord Aeck Sargent designed the project and SG Contracting will build it. The Conservancy's project announcement lists these features:
- A one-mile trail system through mature forest
- A native tree arboretum
- A natural play space for children
- An outdoor native plant garden
- Overlooks with views across the golf course and the Nancy Creek valley
- Restoration work to protect wildlife habitat along the creek corridor
- A 153-foot pedestrian bridge over Nancy Creek
- A new entrance drive and parking area serving the Conservancy offices, Farm Chastain, and the trail system
The last two items matter most to people who use the park every week. The footbridge is how visitors will reach the Palisades. The new entrance and parking change how you get to Farm Chastain and the Conservancy offices. The Conservancy's earlier project description adds that the new trail will connect to the park's existing jogging trails and improve the link between Lake Forrest Drive and Powers Ferry Road. Right now those two roads frame the park but do not connect well through it on foot.
In short, the Palisades adds a new kind of space to Chastain. Another mile of woodland trail, with overlooks and a creek crossing, joins a park best known for concerts, courts, and a paved loop.
When the Fences Go Up
Each public update has described the start date a little more loosely than the one before it:
| Source | Date published | Construction start | Build length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chastain Park Conservancy | July 14, 2026 | Expected November 1 | 12 to 16 months |
| Atlanta Business Chronicle | September 2026 | November, pending final fundraising | 12 to 18 months |
| Simply Buckhead | October 1, 2026 | Before the end of the year | 12 to 16 months |
The most recent public timeline, from October, says work will begin before 2026 ends. A 12- to 16-month build that starts in late 2026 would finish somewhere between late 2027 and the first half of 2028. The Conservancy has not published a specific opening date. In its July update, it reported more than $12 million raised and about $1 million still to go. The Conservancy has tied the remaining gifts to its Gilded Trail Gala.
The Conservancy has not announced any trail closures, detours, or parking changes for the construction period. Any access changes near Farm Chastain or the Lake Forrest Drive side will come from the Conservancy. Its site is the place to check before a walk on that end of the park.
The Winter Calendar Runs on Familiar Ground
While crews get ready near Nancy Creek, the park's November and December events stay in the places regulars already know: Park Drive, the playground, the arts center, and the tennis courts.
| Dates | Event | Where | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 7 and 8 | Chastain Park Fall Arts Festival | Park Drive | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday |
| Nov. 30 to Dec. 12 | Chastain Arts Center December workshops | Chastain Arts Center | Two-week session from the City's Office of Cultural Affairs |
| Dec. 5 | Holiday Chastain | Chastain Park Playground | Free, starts at 9 a.m. |
| Through Dec. 20 | Chastain Park Tennis Center fall classes and clinics | 290 Chastain Park Ave. NW | Enrolling now |
The Fall Arts Festival comes first, on the weekend after this post goes up. The Atlanta Foundation for Public Spaces runs it with volunteer artists. The foundation describes it as a free event with about 175 artists, food and drink concessions, and live music. The event listing gives the address as 4469 Stella Drive, at Powers Ferry Road and Stella Drive. That puts the weekend on the Powers Ferry side of the park, the opposite end from the Palisades site.
Holiday Chastain on December 5 takes place at the Chastain Park Playground, which the Conservancy says is newly rebuilt and already open. The Conservancy lists free hot chocolate, cookie decorating, and family activities. The December workshops at the Chastain Arts Center fill the stretch between Thanksgiving and mid-December. The tennis center's fall clinics run until December 20, just before the holidays.
Where the Park Is Headed
The events this winter happen in the developed core of the park, built up over decades. The construction is aimed at woods that have had no public entrance at all. When the Palisades opens, Farm Chastain will have a new front door, and you will be able to walk from Lake Forrest Drive toward Powers Ferry Road on a trail that links to the existing jogging paths. The Nancy Creek valley, which most people have only seen from a car or a golf cart, will have overlooks built for looking at it.
McHugh credited the City of Atlanta as a partner, telling Simply Buckhead that its collaboration is "helping make this vision a reality so generations of Atlantans can enjoy this incredible regional park for years to come." For the next 12 to 16 months, that work will mostly happen out of sight, behind the 16th hole. The festival tents on Park Drive and the hot chocolate at the playground will look the same as always this year. The change will show up when the footbridge over Nancy Creek opens at the end of that build.
Homes near the Lake Forrest Drive and Powers Ferry Road edges of the park will gain a new trailhead, a new entrance, and a mile of woodland within walking distance. If you would like to talk through what the Palisades means for a home on either side of the park, Shanna Smith is glad to help. Request a private consultation.
