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Approximately five miles of nature trails wind through the Garden. A wide variety of natural physiographic features and plant communities can be found within the Garden's ecological areas—wetlands, floodplains, slopes, and upland plateaus. Successional stages range from beeches more than 100 years old to fields tilled for agricultural research as recently as 1960. Geographic disturbances caused by cotton farming, livestock grazing and fire have left their mark on the land; older hardwoods exist mainly on slopes too steep for terracing.
Portions of the Orange Trail and White Trail parallel the shoreline of the Middle Oconee River which borders the western portion of the Garden. Small populations of wildlife such as rabbits, raccoons, opossums, fox and numerous bird species find the Garden a natural habitat. Birding is a popular activity at the Garden. The State Botanical Garden together with UGA's Whitehall Forest has been designated an IBA (Important Bird Area) by the Georgia Audubon Society.
Sites of archeological interest include several old home sites and rock mounds of uncertain origin. |
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 Stream by a nature trail
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