BELT LINE

A 22-mile former rail corridor looping around Atlanta’s historic neighborhoods. It borders Virginia Highland on the west. While the trail is rough in places, it makes for a great walk in a uniquely urban “forest” with strategically placed art along the way. Details at the BeltLine site.
See a photoset of Art on the Beltline.

NEIGHBORHOOD ARBORETUM

Virginia Highland has one of seven Atlanta “neighborhood arboreta”, which are in fact walking routes of trees (identified by markers) in yards, sidewalk planting strips, and parks. A brochure available from at Trees Atlanta maps out the route, the trees along it, and educates visitors about the trees.


PARKS

Smaller parks inside VaHi

• John Howell Park - Virginia Avenue west of Barnett
• New Highland Park - N. Highland Ave. at St. Charles Ave. - see the plans
• Orme Park - check vahi.org for improvement plans
• technically, the Lanier Blvd. parkway (median) from N. Highland up to Morningside Dr. counts as 2.1 acres of park land!

Freedom Park

Larger parks near VaHi

Freedom Park - a unique park space stretching along Freedom Parkway from Boulevard, via the Carter Center to Ponce (VaHi’s south border); also east from the Carter Center to Candler Park and south from the Carter Center to the MARTA East/West line. Bike paths (that also connect onward to the PATH bike trails)

Hahn Woods - Emory University Campus, Houston Mill Rd. (turn west into parking lot just south of Logan’s Knoll). Nature preserve with trail and viewing platform over the creek.

Morningside Nature Preserve - a 30 acre preserve about 1.5 miles north of VaHi. Got a new bridge over the creek as of October 2010.

Piedmont Park, Atlanta’s “Central Park”, bordering VaHi on the west