Kingston's Fort Starts Its First State Park Holiday Season With a Morning Walk

The best-known December evening at Fort Southwest Point has been candlelit. In 2025, the City of Kingston and the Southwest Point Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution held the Candlelight Christmas Tour on Saturday, December 6, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at 1226 South Kentucky Street. This year the fort belongs to Tennessee State Parks. The first holiday event the state has put on its calendar is outdoors, starts at 9 a.m. and spends most of its hour on the hill and the shoreline.

That event is the Day After Thanksgiving Hike on Friday, November 27, 2026. The park's own listing calls it the "first annual" one, so the state means for it to come back every year. It's the first piece of a holiday calendar that the state will now build for this site.

What Changed Between February and September

The fort on South Kentucky Street has been a Kingston landmark for decades. The handoff to the state took most of 2026:

1. February 2026: WVLT reported that the City of Kingston still ran the park but the state had started the transition. Tennessee State Parks asked the public to help shape a master plan through an online survey.
2. March 31, 2026: The survey closed.
3. July 2026: The fort was dedicated as Tennessee's 66th state park. 3B Media News reported that the ceremony brought together Roane County Executive Wade Creswell, TDEC Commissioner David Salyers, Kingston Mayor Tim Neal and State Senator Ken Yager. Afterward the crowd went to the Old Roane County Courthouse to read the Declaration of Independence aloud for the nation's 250th anniversary.
4. July 15, 2026: TDEC held what it listed as the final public meeting on the park's plan, from 6 to 7 p.m.
5. September 2026: The Tennessee Council for Professional Archaeology named Hannah Paschall as the fort's first park manager and said the park offers ranger-led and living-history programs.

The fort is one of 14 new state parks to be created under Gov. Bill Lee, which TDEC says is the most ever created by one Tennessee administration. Being part of that statewide system is why a Kingston walk now shows up on the same registration site as parks across Tennessee.

The State Took Over the Hilltop, Not Just the Buildings

Most of the fort's story happened inside the walls. TDEC's announcement says federal troops built the fort in 1797 in what was then called the Southwest Territory. From 1801 to 1807 it was a supply depot and the site of treaty negotiations with the Cherokee, led by Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs. Soldiers stayed at the fort until 1811. The site goes back much further than that. WVLT reported that it holds an archaeological record of pre-Contact Native Americans dating to about 8,000 to 6,000 B.C. The fort originally had 15 structures, and the buildings standing today are reconstructions.

The rest of the park is outdoors. TDEC lists picnic areas, a walking path along Watts Bar Lake and an 18-hole disc golf course. On clear days you can see Frozen Head State Park and the Cumberland Mountains. The official park page describes a half-mile paved shoreline trail. TDEC's deputy commissioner for conservation, Brian Clifford, explained the state's role this way in the department's dedication release:

"As our newest state park, the state can help ensure the history that played out here more than 200 years ago will be preserved for future generations."

The view that made this a good spot for a fort is the same view the state's first holiday event is built around.

One Mile, Start to Finish

The Day After Thanksgiving Hike meets at the Visitor Center and runs from 9 to 10 a.m. The listing describes a loop of about one mile.

It's an easy walk, with one climb in the middle. The listing asks walkers to wear good walking shoes, bring water and dress for the weather. The hike is free. The registration page also lets you add an optional donation of $5, $10 or $15. You sign up through the Tennessee State Parks registration page. The event host is Kristen Powell, and her contact information is on the event listing.

A few practical details for the morning:

• Roane County's tourism office says admission to the fort is free.
• The only restrooms are at the Visitor Center, according to the park highlights page. Plan for that before heading up the hill.
• The park lists a gift shop and museum. TDEC says the museum inside the Visitor Center holds artifacts excavated on site under the supervision of the Tennessee Division of Archaeology. Check the park page or call the park for current hours before you plan to see the exhibits.

Thanksgiving falls on November 26 this year, so the walk is the next morning. The time slot is part of the appeal. It's one hour, early in the day, free, and close to anyone staying in town for the long weekend.

The Rest of Kingston's Holiday Calendar

The hike opens a short stretch of holiday events in town. The First Baptist Church Kingston calendar lists a Christmas Parade on November 30, 2026, at 6 p.m. That's the Monday after the hike, so the fort walk and the parade fall in the same five days.

The candlelit evening at the fort is a long-standing tradition. Roane County's tourism page describes a Colonial Christmas Candlelight Tour at the fort in December. Its 2025 sponsors were the Southwest Point DAR chapter and Kingston Parks & Recreation. The Tennessee State Parks events page for the fort is the place to find December listings as the state fills in its calendar.

What the Master Plan Will Shape

Clifford explained the planning process in WVLT's February report: "The master plan is something we create with the public." He said the input would help define "the experiences, conservation priorities, and community benefits this park delivers for generations." Survey responses and the July meeting fed into that plan. In the meantime, the park has a manager, ranger-led programs and a first annual event, which shows the kind of park the state is running day to day.

That event is a walk that stays out on the trail and the hill as much as in the buildings, and keeps the lake and both rivers in view the whole way. For Kingston, the fort's first holiday season as a state park starts with a free hour outdoors on the morning of November 27, a few minutes from downtown.

If the Fort Southwest Point walk is on your Thanksgiving weekend plans and you've been wondering what Kingston's new state park means for this stretch of South Kentucky Street and the lakefront nearby, Kathy May-Martin has spent more than 30 years working these Watts Bar shorelines and would be glad to talk it through. Schedule Your Consultation.