National Forests

Atlanta is known as the “City in a Forest” because of its dense tree coverage and many green spaces. The Greater Atlanta region is also surrounded by protected National Forest land on three sides: North, East, and West. Atlanta is located at the base of the Appalachian Mountains, in the Piedmont, and includes many foothills and smaller mountains. Southeast of the Atlanta Metro area is the Oconee National Forest, located just south of the Athens area. West of Atlanta, and located across the Alabama border, lies the massive Talladega National Forest. North of Metro Atlanta, in the Appalachian Mountains, is the even larger Chattahoochee National Forest, which connects the forest land of northern Georgia to even larger National Forests in the States of Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. In addition to federally protected National Forest land, the area surrounding Metro Atlanta is predominantly wooded and rural. Suburbs within Metro Atlanta are also heavily wooded and green spaces dominate the landscape. 

"He looked away from the buildings and out over the ocean of trees. Since Atlanta was not a port city and was, in fact, far inland, the trees stretched on in every direction. They were Atlanta's greatest natural resource, those trees were. People loved to live beneath them."

Tom Wolfe, A Man in Full