Atlanta Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

includes over 3,000 acres of parkland managed b
Parks and Recreation.
The 343 Atlanta parks range in scope from formal gardens at

Atlanta Botanical Garden The Atlanta Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located adjacent to Piedmont Park in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Incorporated in 1976, the garden's mission is to "develop and maintain plant collections for the purposes of displa ...

to pocket parks in neighborhoods. Additionally, there are six miles of paved pedestrian and bike trails in the

Atlanta Beltline The Atlanta BeltLine (also Beltline or Belt Line) is a open and planned loop of multi-use trail and light rail transit system on a former railway corridor around the core of Atlanta, Georgia. The Atlanta BeltLine is designed to reconnect neig ...

as well as the

PATH Foundation PATH Foundation is a network of off-road trails in and around the metro Atlanta area for walkers, runners, skaters, and cyclists. The foundation was established in 1991. The goal was to develop a network of off-road trails in Atlanta in time for ...

network of 150 miles of off road trails.

Piedmont Park

Piedmont Park Piedmont Park is an urban park in Atlanta, Georgia, located about northeast of Downtown, between the Midtown and Virginia Highland neighborhoods. Originally the land was owned by Dr. Benjamin Walker, who used it as his out-of-town gentleman's ...

, site of the 1895 Cotton States Expo, is Atlanta's iconic green space. The Midtown park, which underwent a major renovation and expansion in 2010, attracts visitors from across the region and hosts various cultural events throughout the year. Piedmont Park also features a large 3-acre dog park with sections for large and small dogs.

Downtown parks

Centennial Olympic Park Centennial Olympic Park is a public park located in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, owned and operated by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority. It was built by the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) as part of the infrastructu ...

forms a centerpoint for downtown visitors in and around which key visitor attractions are located; nearby

Woodruff Park Woodruff Park, named for Robert W. Woodruff, is located in the heart of Downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The park's are north of Edgewood Ave, between Peachtree Street NE and Park Place NE. The park includes a fountain, a performance pavilion, an ...

and Hurt Park cater to the downtown lunch crowd.Atlanta Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs

Other prominent parks

Grant Park, located on the east side, is home to the city zoo., Chastain Park, the primary recreational center for the northern

Buckhead Buckhead is the uptown commercial and residential district of the city of Atlanta, Georgia, comprising approximately the northernmost fifth of the city. Buckhead is the third largest business district within the Atlanta city limits, behind Downt ...

district, contains an amphitheater for live music concerts. Atlanta's largest park, Southside Park, is remote and nearly undeveloped, and the planned

Westside Park Westside Park at Bellwood Quarry is a park in the City of Atlanta located on the site of the former Bellwood Quarry. The park is between Johnson Road and Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway and between the neighborhoods of Bankhead, Grove Park, and ...

in northwest Atlanta, which will be constructed on the site of a former gravel quarry, will eclipse Southside as the city's largest. Also, Perkerson Park in Southwest Atlanta is home to the city's only permanent

Disc Golf Disc golf, also known as frisbee golf, is a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target; it is played using rules similar to golf. Most disc golf discs are made out of polypropylene plastic, otherwise known as polypropene, which ...

course. Atlanta's neighborhoods are dotted with hundreds of neighborhood parks such as John Howell Park in Virginia-Highland and Perkerson Park in the Capitol View/ Sylvan Hills area.

Freedom Park In the Philippines, a freedom park is a centrally located public space where political gatherings, rallies and demonstrations may be held without the need of prior permission from government authorities. Similar to free speech zones in the United S ...

is Atlanta's largest passive park, with over 200 acres of linear greenspace going through Atlanta's historic east side neighborhoods. It was designated as Atlanta's Public Art Park by the Atlanta City Council in 2007.

Nature preserves

Several nature preserves line the south fork of

Peachtree Creek Peachtree Creek is a major stream in Atlanta. It flows for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 15, 2011 almost due west into the Chattahoochee River just south of Vin ...

in the Morningside neighborhood, including the Morningside Nature Preserve, while part of the

Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA) preserves a series of sites between Atlanta and Lake Sidney Lanier along the Chattahoochee River in Georgia, U.S. The 48-mile (77 km) stretch of the river affords public recreation opport ...

lies in the city's northwest corner.

Atlanta Botanical Garden

The

is home to the Canopy Walk, a 600-foot elevated walkway ambling 40 feet from the ground through a 15-acre forest of mature hardwoods, and the only canopy-level pathway of its kind in the United States.

Trails

BeltLine

The

BeltLine The Atlanta BeltLine (also Beltline or Belt Line) is a open and planned loop of multi-use trail and light rail transit system on a former railway corridor around the core of Atlanta, Georgia. The Atlanta BeltLine is designed to reconnect neig ...

, a former rail corridor that forms a 22-

mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

loop around Atlanta's central neighborhoods, has been acquired and transformed into public space. Most of the corridor opened in the late-2000s as a walking path, with plans for development of multi-use trails and, eventually, public transit. A trail has already been constructed near the West End neighborhood, while another one, under construction as of 2012, will connect

Inman Park Inman Park is an intown neighborhood on the east side of Atlanta, Georgia, and its first planned suburb. It was named for Samuel M. Inman. History Today's neighborhood of Inman Park includes areas that were originally designated * Inman Park ...

projects will increase Atlanta's park space by 40%, including two new parks:

Historic Fourth Ward Park Historic Fourth Ward Park is a park built on the site of the old Ponce de Leon amusement park, in the Old Fourth Ward of Atlanta, just south of Ponce City Market and just west of the BeltLine Eastside Trail. Currently the park covers in two sepa ...

, now open, and Westside Park.

PATH

In addition to BeltLine trails,

PATH A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desire p ...

maintains a network of biking and walking trails in Metro Atlanta, including one that traverses Atlanta's east side, traveling past the

Carter Center The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University just after his defeat in the 1980 United States presidenti ...

and through

PATH400 The PATH400 Greenway Trail is a multi-use trail under construction along the Georgia 400 freeway in Buckhead, Atlanta. Once complete, the trail will be 10 feet (3.0 m) to 14 feet (4.3 m) wide and traverse the cities of Atlanta, Sandy Springs and Du ...

will be a major addition to the PATH network through

. The

Cheshire Farm Trail The Cheshire Farm Trail is a walking trail along the South Fork of Peachtree Creek in Atlanta. Ribbon cutting occurred in September 2014. The trail, costing ca. 1 million US dollars, was funded by Georgia Department of Transportation to appease lo ...

lines the South Fork of

from Lindbergh Ave. to

Cheshire Bridge Road Cheshire Bridge Road is a mainly north–south thoroughfare of Atlanta, Georgia, USA traversing the Morningside-Lenox Park and Lindridge-Martin Manor neighborhoods from Piedmont Avenue to Buford Highway just north of Interstate 85. While the co ...

, and Maiden Trail parallels

Ponce de Leon Avenue Ponce de Leon Avenue ( ), often simply called Ponce, provides a link between Atlanta, Decatur, Clarkston, and Stone Mountain, Georgia. It was named for Ponce de Leon Springs, in turn from explorer Juan Ponce de León, but is not pronounced ...

in Virginia-Highland.

External links

Atlanta Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs

References

{{Atlanta