Atlanta BeltLine Arboretum recognized as world’s longest linear arboretum, spanning nearly 13 miles citywide

A “green museum” growing alongside Atlanta’s trail network

The Atlanta BeltLine is increasingly being defined not only by trails and redevelopment, but also by a curated urban forest that officials describe as the world’s longest linear arboretum. The Atlanta BeltLine Arboretum stretches nearly 13 miles along the BeltLine corridor, forming an ecological connector that links a wide range of neighborhoods and landscape types across the city.

The arboretum is designed as a managed collection of trees, shrubs, grasses, and wildflowers intended to restore and strengthen urban ecosystems while remaining freely accessible to the public. Along the corridor, plantings and preserved areas are used to create habitat for wildlife and to support pollinators, including birds and butterflies.

Scale and cataloging: 85 acres, thousands of accessioned plants

Project descriptions released by BeltLine officials and the nonprofit Trees Atlanta characterize the arboretum as an 85-acre, linear greenspace with a cataloged living collection. The inventory includes more than 9,000 accessioned trees and shrubs representing 369 distinct tree and shrub species and cultivars, alongside extensive meadow plantings. As additional trail segments are built, the arboretum footprint is expected to expand through new installations and ongoing landscape management.

• Length: nearly 13 miles along the BeltLine corridor
• Area: about 85 acres of arboretum space
• Collection: more than 9,000 accessioned trees and shrubs
• Diversity: 369 tree and shrub species and cultivars

How the BeltLine’s arboretum is managed

The arboretum is the result of a long-running partnership in which Trees Atlanta is responsible for design support, installation, and maintenance of plantings in designated arboretum areas. The approach emphasizes species diversity and the intentional use of plants adapted to Atlanta’s climate—strategies aimed at reducing long-term maintenance burdens and improving resilience to pests and invasive insects.

An arboretum is a botanical garden focused on trees grown for research, education, and display; the BeltLine’s version adapts that concept to a continuous urban corridor.

Education features and interpretive destinations along the corridor

Beyond plantings, the arboretum is built to function as a public-facing learning environment. Program materials describe docent-led walking tours operating on multiple BeltLine segments, along with installed “garden rooms” that interpret ecological processes and local biodiversity. Highlighted destinations include the Stumpery Garden near Reynoldstown—built from repurposed logs and stumps—and other specialized collections, such as pine-focused plantings and wetland-adapted landscapes designed to handle areas that naturally retain stormwater.

As Atlanta continues to extend and connect its BeltLine segments, the arboretum is positioned as a parallel, living infrastructure project—one that grows in step with the trail network while formalizing the corridor’s role as an urban ecological system.