Karns Spent the Summer Building Places to Gather. Fall Is When You Get to Use Them.

On a Saturday this summer, a handful of Karns Community Club members met in the grove behind the old Karns library building and built a stage. First they set the footers, then laid the flooring, then did the framing. By the end of the day it was standing. Club president Brent Howell, Mark Graham, Logan Austin, Allan Mumm and club trustee Charlie Austin did the work, and Urban Engineering Inc. paid for much of the construction.

Eleven days after Knox TN Today ran the photos, Knox County and Legacy Parks Foundation cut the ribbon on Karns Landing, a new accessible kayak launch on Beaver Creek just down Oak Ridge Highway.

So Karns, a place without a town hall or a downtown square, gained two public gathering spots on its main road in the same summer. Neither came from a developer or a shopping center. One was framed by club volunteers in a day. The other sits at the end of a creek that a kayak club has been clearing one debris jam at a time since 2016. With October here, both are open, the weather is good for being outside, and the first full season of using them is underway.

A Stage for a Grove That Sat Empty

The Karns Community Club has a clubhouse in the old Karns library building and a grove, and the concerts happen at the Karns Community Center, 7708 Oak Ridge Hwy. The grove had been underused, so Howell proposed an outdoor concert series called Music in the Grove. The club calls it "a free, family-friendly event to give back to our community."

The first show was Knoxville bluegrass group Timberwinds on Saturday, August 15. Afterward, Sandra Clark of Knox TN Today praised the music, the lighting and the sound. She also described how the evening worked: a food truck was parked on site, volunteers handed out water, people brought their own chairs, and the community center restrooms were open. For the September show, the club pointed people to parking in the back lot of Karns Elementary and asked them to bring a blanket or a lawn chair.

The October show is this Friday:

Carolina Bluegrass Style, a high-energy bluegrass fusion band, will entertain at a free concert on Friday, October 9, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at the Karns Community Center, 7708 Oak Ridge Hwy. Parking is in the back lot of Karns Elementary School. Bring your lawn chair and something for the tip jar.

That's how Knox TN Today put it on October 6. The band lives near Columbia, South Carolina, and is especially well known in Asheville. Don Ashley plays fiddle and emcees, Tyler Chasteen plays rhythm and lead guitar, organizer Tommy Thomas plays bass, and David Prosser plays banjo and dobro. You can listen to them on the band's website before Friday.

The series has one more show this year, the season finale in November. The Knox TN Today announcement for the October show doesn't give the finale's date or act. For outdoor shows, the club posts weather updates on the Karns Community Club Facebook page, which is also the best place to watch for the finale. Austin says a fuller schedule starts in spring 2027.

A Launch at the End of Ten Years of Clearing

Karns Landing is at 8051 Oak Ridge Hwy, behind the rugby field across the highway from the Knox County Sportspark. It's the third adaptive dock on Beaver Creek. The other two are Aubrey's Launch at Powell High School Landing and the dock at Roy Arthur Stormwater Park, about 5.5 miles upstream. The Karns dock has an ADA-compliant gangway and ramp, handrails, a transfer area and a wide platform, so getting into and out of a kayak or canoe is easier for paddlers of all abilities. It's open to the public, and Knox County Parks & Recreation maintains it.

The dock itself is the newest piece. What makes it usable is years of volunteer work on the creek. In WATE's coverage of the opening, Beaver Creek Kayak Club president Charlie Austin said the club started the project in 2016, and Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs and Commissioner Larsen Jay joined in 2020. After ten years, about 22 of the creek's 44 miles have been cleared.

"You can launch from Powell High School at Aubrey's launch and pretty much float all the way to Melton Hill Dam or Melton Hill Lake currently."

That's Austin, speaking to WATE. The club describes itself as a group of recreational kayakers working on creek cleanup and preservation and promoting the public water trail. Legacy Parks says two more accessible docks and micro-parks are in the works.

Before You Put In This Fall

A creek moves differently than a lake, and a summer report won't tell you what the water looks like in October. These are the checks the sources point to:

1. Read the gauge, then read the club. The USGS runs a Beaver Creek gauge near Powell, station 03535200. On the evening of October 7, 2026, it showed a provisional stage of 4.13 feet. None of the sources we reviewed give a minimum paddling level, so that number tells you how today compares with other days, not whether it's safe to go. The Beaver Creek Kayak Club's Facebook page posts current reports on creek conditions.
2. Expect the water to change things. One paddler who floated Powell High to Weigel's in July said recent heavy rain carried her through the shallow stretch under the Clinton Highway bridge without getting out of her boat, and a trip she'd planned at 1.5 hours took one. Lower water usually means more shallows, and fall storms can drop new trees across the channel.
3. Plan the Roy Arthur to Karns run generously. Roy Arthur Stormwater Park is at 7221 Harrell Road. We found no published time for this 5.5-mile stretch. An older Knox TN Today piece from 2020 suggested planning on about an hour per creek mile, which is a loose estimate that predates years of clearing.
4. Bring your own boat, or plan ahead for a rental. River Sports Outfitters rents kayaks and canoes for pickup at 2918 Sutherland Avenue, but it doesn't advertise regular delivery to Beaver Creek. The drop-off and pickup service people may remember was arranged for the club's May flotilla only.
5. Pack the life jackets. Under Tennessee boating rules, every person in a canoe or kayak needs a wearable, Coast Guard-approved life jacket within easy reach, and children 12 and younger have to wear one on an open deck.

The county lists the Sportspark's hours as dawn to dusk. We didn't find separate hours or a designated parking area for the launch itself.

The Rest of the Fall Calendar

The grove and the creek are the newest additions to a fall calendar that also includes Karns's long-running events.

Karns Fair lists a craft show, local vendors, treats, a kid-friendly haunted house, face painting and pumpkin painting for the Fall Festival. The parade page has the usual logistics but no 2026 date yet. Participants arrive at Ingles Market at 7:30 a.m., the parade steps off at 9:00, and it finishes at the Red Light where Oak Ridge Highway meets Byington-Solway. The club also hosted its October 6 meeting at the Karns Community Building, and its two event centers can be rented for holiday parties through karnscommunityclub.org.

There's one more new spot on Oak Ridge Highway. The Karns Waffle House is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. for now and plans to go 24/7 soon. Sandra Clark wrote in late September that folks are excited about it after Karns lost a couple of old favorites. If you're taking the kayak out early on a Saturday, you now have a breakfast option close to the creek.

Our team at MR10 Realty keeps up with what's opening along Oak Ridge Highway because Karns is part of the community we call home. If you catch the November finale date or a good fall creek report before we do, please get in touch and tell us.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.