"Throw a blanket, read a book, do yoga, do tai chi, bring your family and enjoy green space in a more passive manner." That is how Rosa McHugh of the Chastain Park Conservancy described the purpose of the Palisades Project to Axios Atlanta in August.
Coming from a park that already offers golf, tennis, youth sports, swimming and an amphitheater, it sounds like a modest goal. It is also the reason behind the largest project at Chastain in decades. In its coverage, Axios summed up the gap plainly: Chastain has plenty for people to do and not many places for them to simply be. According to Simply Buckhead's October 1 report, construction on roughly 30 acres is set to begin before the end of the year.
The 30 acres you've driven past without seeing
The Palisades site sits inside the boundary of the Chastain golf course, yet the course was never designed around it. Nancy Creek cuts the land off from the fairways, and it rises about 40 feet above them. Urbanize Atlanta locates it at the south end of the park along Nancy Creek, near Lake Forrest Drive.
With no public access, the land became an informal dumping ground overgrown with kudzu. The opening came in 2016, when the private golf operator's lease ended and the city and the Conservancy saw a chance to bring the tract back into the park. Urbanize's reporting also notes imported fill and construction debris on the site.
Simply Buckhead puts Chastain's traffic at more than 3 million visitors a year. All those people have been sharing a park that had a large forested section none of them could get into.
What's actually being built
The Conservancy's July 14 project update lists the main features.
- A one-mile trail system through mature forest
- A native tree arboretum
- A natural play space for children
- A native plant garden
- Scenic overlooks facing the golf course and the Nancy Creek valley
- Environmental restoration 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
Axios adds two features the Conservancy list doesn't spell out: a pollinator meadow and an oval lawn overlooking the creek and the golf course, with west-facing views designed for watching the sunset. Urbanize reports that the new trail is planned to connect with the PATH Foundation trails already circling the park. People who walk the PATH loop today would gain a mile of forest trail branching off a route they already use.
The road work is less visible but just as practical. Rough Draft Atlanta reported that the vehicle access road that now runs through the golf course will be relocated and its asphalt returned to fairway. Farm Chastain, at 4001 Powers Ferry Road NW past the golf course, is one of the destinations the new entrance drive is meant to serve. Visitors to the farm, the Conservancy offices and the new trailhead will arrive on a route designed for them, without cutting across a working golf course.
The designer is the landscape architecture firm Lord Aeck Sargent, and SG Contracting is the builder.
Why quiet won the planning process
The Palisades came out of the 2025 Chastain Park Comprehensive Plan Update, which drew on extensive public input and was approved by the Atlanta City Council. The Conservancy says one request came up again and again: more passive greenspace, meaning places to walk, explore and reflect.
McHugh told Axios that a pandemic-era experiment helped make the case. When the golf courses were opened for general use, the response revealed demand for unprogrammed space that the park wasn't meeting. The Palisades is one of the centerpieces of Discover Chastain, a 20-year vision for adding flexible public space to a park that Axios describes as dominated by golf, tennis, youth sports, swimming and concerts.
The calendar that makes the case
Chastain's own October calendar makes McHugh's point. Almost every entry is a scheduled event with a start time, a ticket or a defined route.
Through October 10: "Moments in Light," a photography exhibition at Chastain Arts Center, which opened September 10. The Arts Center's fall class session runs through November 14.
Through October 15: The 2026 Chastain Challenge, which started September 1, asks participants to log 100 miles and has a new tracking app this year.
October 8: Dinner Under the Stars, the Conservancy's fundraiser featuring 15 Buckhead restaurants and chefs.
October 9 and 10: Turnpike Troubadours, then Dermot Kennedy, at Synovus Bank Amphitheater.
October 17: A festival at Chastain Horse Park, 10 a.m. to noon.
October 18: The Chastain Park Auto Show, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
October 23: RAWAYANA at the amphitheater.
October 28: A Moonshine Workshop at Farm Chastain, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
October 30: Glow Chastain, a free evening at the playground from 5 to 7 p.m. with trick-or-treating and family activities.
October 30 and 31: Steve Lacy closes out the amphitheater's October calendar. The October 31 show is the last one listed for the month.
November 7 and 8: The Chastain Park Fall Arts Festival, with about 175 artists, food vendors and free admission.
None of this is going away. The Palisades adds a different kind of place to the same park. Once it opens, someone could leave a Saturday morning at the Horse Park and walk across the Nancy Creek bridge to a lawn where nothing is scheduled.
The golf course has its own project ahead. Atlanta City Golf says it is preparing a full renovation of the Chastain greens, including complete green reconstruction, improved subsurface drainage and TifEagle grass, with construction expected "during the next growing season."
What's confirmed, and what isn't yet
Some dates have moved since summer, so here is where things stand as of early October.
- Start date. The Conservancy's July update targeted November 1. The most recent coverage, from Simply Buckhead on October 1, says only "before the end of the year." No groundbreaking ceremony has been announced.
- Duration. Both sources estimate 12 to 16 months of construction, which puts an opening somewhere between late 2027 and early 2028 if work starts this winter.
- Funding. In July the Conservancy reported more than $12 million raised, with about $1 million to go. Axios put the overall goal at $13 million. The Gilded Trail Gala on August 8 included a Trailblazer Dinner at The Chastain and a Boots and Bubbles party at the St. Regis. A final total after the gala hasn't been published.
- Closures. As of early October, none of the coverage reviewed for this post mentions trail closures, detours or parking changes during construction. Since the site has been inaccessible for decades, the land itself won't take anything away from current park users. The Conservancy's website is the place to check for access updates once crews arrive.
If you walk the PATH loop or drive Lake Forrest Drive along the south end of the park, the first signs of work should appear sometime between now and the end of the year.
Projects like the Palisades change how a neighborhood feels day to day, and they can shape how buyers see the homes close by. If you're curious how this new greenspace near Lake Forrest Drive and Powers Ferry Road might affect your own home, Kenna Daws is happy to talk it through with you. You can start by getting your instant home valuation.
