Atlanta Beltline Arboretum

Arboretum Tree Tours   |   Education   |   Volunteer

Connecting Atlanta’s living past, present, and future.

Arboretum (n):  A botanical garden focused on trees, which are grown for research, education, and display.

The Atlanta Beltline Arboretum is a public garden primarily focused on diverse native species of Georgia and southeastern U.S.

The Atlanta Beltline Arboretum is an integrated part of Atlanta’s urban forest. This community greenspace acts as natural green infrastructure, ecological corridor, and a learning landscape. Dynamic collections of wild and cultivated tree and woody plant species, along with extensive southeastern grass and forb groundcover, showcase sustainable landscape management and demonstrates native plant use in an urban setting. It is a place for beauty, education, restoration, community science, and scientific research.

Arboretum Collection Highlights

Trees Atlanta docent-led guided tree tours are free and open to the public.
Please view our calendar of upcoming tree tours.

To inquire about scheduling a custom tour for your group, please fill out this form and a member of our team will contact you. Fees apply.

Stewardship of the Atlanta Beltine Arboretum

Trees Atlanta currently manages 60 acres of linear greenspace along 13 miles of the Atlanta Beltline Arboretum, including sections along the Eastside Trail, Eastside Trail Extension, Westside Trail, Southside Trail, Northeast Trail, and Bill Kennedy Way Connector. In conjunction with continued trail development, the arboretum will expand as new trees are planted and accessioned into the arboretum collections.

The Atlanta Beltline Arboretum currently catalogs:

• 12.44 miles complete
• 60 acres under management
• 647 unique tree and shrub species and cultivars
• 106 genera
• More than 700,000 native grasses, vines, and wildflowers have been planted in the arboretum spaces, along with native plants sown by seed in the meadow spaces

Managed by Trees Atlanta, in partnership with Atlanta Beltline, Inc., Atlanta Beltline Partnership, and the City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation, the arboretum follows the Atlanta Beltline which encircles the urban center of the city and connects 45 neighborhoods in Atlanta. By 2030, the Beltline Arboretum will comprise over 100 acres along 22 miles of former industrial railways. The Atlanta Beltline Arboretum is an accredited Level II arboreta as registed by ArbNet, the international organization of over 900 arboreta.

Education

Strategic Goals

1. Create a distinctive sense of place with native and regionally-adapted plants of the bio-regions of Georgia, with special emphasis on the Piedmont.
2. Activate the Atlanta Beltline Arboretum as a corridor for education and scientific research by Trees Atlanta and its partners.
3. Demonstrate botanically diverse collections and sustainable landscape management practices.
4. Restore the soil and environment of the former urban industrial railway corridor.
5. Enhance neighborhoods, community parks, and greenspaces, by improving access to nature, quality of life, and health for all of metro Atlanta.
6. Build a healthy urban ecosystem and connect wildlife corridors.

Scheduled Tree Tours

Tree Tours on the Atlanta Beltline Arboretum are guided walks through the botanical and historical points of interest on the trail. Regularly scheduled tours are offered for the Eastside, Westside, Northeast, and Southside Trails. Each Trees Atlanta volunteer docent (tour guide) prepares their own unique talking points on native trees and plants, architectural interests, key historical stories, and more — so every tour offers different perspectives and color.

In addition to the Atlanta Beltline, other Tree Tours are offered periodically in neighborhoods across the city that introduce you to the beautiful tree lined streets of Grant Park, Ansley Park, Piedmont Park, Inman Park, Virginia Highlands, and other Neighborhood Arboreta. Tree Tours are often guided walks, but tours by bike are offered on occasion, as well as tree tours combined with guidance from experts from related interests, such as birding or native plants.

A Tree Tour takes approximately 90 minutes and is a leisurely stroll. Most of our tours start or end where you can enjoy a refreshment nearby or continue exploring the city on your own.  Tours are offered year-round (primarily on Fridays or Saturdays). Experience every season of the Atlanta Beltline Arboretum or our beautiful city by joining us on an upcoming Tree Tour. Scheduled tours are found on our Calendar.

Custom Private Tours

We are able to schedule tours for your group to better meet your specific time, location, and topic of interest. To inquire about scheduling a custom tour for your group, please fill out this form and a member of our team will contact you. Fees apply.

Junior TreeKeeper Camp

Trees Atlanta’s very popular Summer Camp and School Break sessions take advantage of our expertise and location on the Atlanta Beltline. Our environmental educators organize camp days so that children are outside, exploring, playing, and learning in the Arboretum. Camps are offered for students in Grades 1 – 6 for 7 weeks each summer and during scheduled school breaks (based on the APS school calendar). More info: Camp
Contact education@treesatlanta.org

Volunteer on the Beltline

Individuals and small groups interested in volunteer on the Beltline with Trees Atlanta can find upcoming projects on our calendar of events. Many weekend opportunities are offered. During summer months, the popular Weeds & Wine program is lead on weekdays.

Docent Training

Interested in becoming a Docent? Trees Atlanta Docents are Certified Volunteers who completed a broad training program about Trees Atlanta’s mission and work, history of the Atlanta Beltline and surrounding neighborhoods, along with horticultural information on the trees, plants, and grasses of the Arboretum. More info: Docent Training Program.

Featuring the Beltline Arboretum

Please enjoy this segment of Georgia Outdoors hosted by Sharon Collins. This 30-minute video features the “Beltline Arboretum” and Trees Atlanta’s close partnership with the Atlanta Beltline to create this uniquely beautiful and environmentally important linear arboretum.

The Atlanta Beltline

Source: Atlanta Beltline

Wildlife Camera Trap Project

The city is habitat for wildlife — among the buildings, roads, humans, and traffic. Animals find food and shelter in green areas with trees, plants, and water. Wildlife is an important part of our community and urban places are often teeming with activity that isn’t often seen by people. This video is a product of the Wildlife Camera Trap Project, a partnership with Trees Atlanta and Georgia Audubon.

Six cameras have been installed in various locations along the Atlanta Beltline Arboretum. Volunteers have adopted each one to help maintain them, move them around, and download images. Thanks to Georgia Audubon, the massive volume of footage is reviewed and edited to produce these highlight videos. Highlight videos from footage collected during Fall 2020 and Winter, Spring, and Summer 2021 are found on our YouTube channel.