Chastain Park's Fall Calendar Has a Construction Start in the Middle
"An 80-year-old dumping ground situated within a significantly unhealthy and ecologically challenged upland forest."
That is how planners describe the Palisades, a section of Chastain Park that most regular visitors have never walked through. The quote comes from Urbanize Atlanta's July 2026 coverage. The Chastain Park Conservancy expects construction there to start on November 1. That date falls between Glow Chastain on October 30 and the Chastain Park Fall Arts Festival on November 7 and 8. If the schedule holds, North Buckhead's most familiar fall weekends will come right before and right after the start of the biggest change to the park in decades.
The Palisades runs along Nancy Creek and Lake Forrest Drive at the park's south end. It is a partly wooded, hilly stretch near the creek banks. WABE calls it 30 acres of previously inaccessible land.
The land has been closed off for a long time. Design plans from the late 1930s show that H. Chandler Egan left out 30 to 40 acres south of the creek. That land may have been held for extra fill dirt while North Fulton Golf Course was being built. Planners say the site still holds "countless mounds of imported fill, construction waste, and trash."
In other words, the park everyone knows grew up around this space without ever using it. The project came out of the 2025 Chastain Park Comprehensive Plan Update, which the Atlanta City Council approved. The Conservancy says one request came up again and again during that planning: more passive greenspace for walking and spending time in nature. Lord Aeck Sargent designed the project, and SG Contracting is set to build it.
The rest of the fall schedule takes place in parts of the park people already use: the Red Parking Lot, the amphitheater, the playground and Farm Chastain. Here is how the dates line up as of October 10.
For coffee between any of these, Grab A Cup is inside the Agape Tennis Academy at the Chastain Park Tennis Center, 290 Chastain Park Ave. NW. Rough Draft Atlanta reported it was set to open in late June.
The Conservancy's July 14 update put the total raised at more than $12 million, with "just $1 million remaining" to reach the goal. To raise the rest, the Conservancy planned The Gilded Trail on August 8. That evening included a chef's dinner at The Chastain restaurant and a Boots & Bubbles party at the St. Regis Atlanta. We could not find any published results from the evening.
In mid-September, the Atlanta Business Chronicle still described the start as conditional. It said construction "is expected to begin in November pending the final fundraising and take 12 to 18 months." The Conservancy's own estimate is a little shorter, at 12 to 16 months. Starting from November 2026, those ranges put completion between about November 2027 and May 2028. The earliest date is close to the 2027 Fall Arts Festival, and the latest falls in spring 2028.
We have not seen a public notice from the Conservancy or the city about how the work will affect parking, Farm Chastain programs, the PATH loop around the park or golf course play while construction is underway. Without a published plan, nobody can yet say whether those areas will be affected.
Most of the new space is quiet greenspace rather than more fields or courts. The Conservancy lists these features:
Urbanize adds more detail. Plans include three public greens totaling 3 acres, set about 40 feet above the public golf course, and the new soft trails would connect to the PATH Foundation trails that already circle the park. A regular walk around the park could pick up a new branch that crosses the creek and climbs above the fairways.
The project also changes how people get to the farm. A new entrance drive and parking area will serve the Conservancy offices, Farm Chastain and the new trails. Today, Farm Chastain hosts events like the October 28 workshop. Once the project is finished, it will have its own front door.
The Palisades has a larger role beyond Chastain, too. A project description says the site "has been selected as the gateway that connects PATH400 to the Atlanta Beltline." Part of that connection is already being built. PATH400's Atlanta section north of Loridans Drive to the Sandy Springs city limit was under construction as of August, with Atlanta's work expected to finish in the first quarter of 2027. The link from PATH400 toward Blue Heron Nature Preserve, and eventually Chastain, was still in planning and partnership talks, with no construction date announced. The Palisades gives that future link a place to land, even though no one has said when it will arrive.
Once the Fall Arts Festival packs up, the next scheduled Conservancy event goes back to the playground. Holiday Chastain is listed for December 5. It is a free family event with hot chocolate and cookie decorating. That same weekend, December 5 and 6, the Buckhead Handmade Holiday Market sets up outdoors on the 200 to 300 block of Buckhead Avenue at Buckhead Village. The organizer lists about 100 artists and free admission. Both events fall on Saturday, December 5, so one day can cover cookie decorating at the playground and holiday shopping on Buckhead Avenue.
If construction starts on schedule, Holiday Chastain will take place about five weeks into the Palisades work. Next fall's calendar may look the same as this year's, but the 30 acres south of Nancy Creek are expected to be well along by then.
If you own a home near Chastain Park and want to understand where your property stands as the Palisades moves forward, Julia Sosa-Rocha and our team can walk you through it. Request Your Free Home Valuation, and we will give you a clear, current picture of your home's value.
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