Adelaide’s European settlers planted a large range of specimen and street trees in the city area from the mid nineteenth century. The Adelaide Botanic Garden, established in 1854, includes many fine examples of specimen trees brought from around the world. The Adelaide City Council commenced systematic street tree plantings from the 1870s. More than half of the roadways in the city have street tree plantings, numbering more than 6,000 trees and 60 different species.

A number of the individual trees and mass plantings in the city have endured for well over a century and continue to add beauty and amenity to the city, its parks and gardens. Adelaide’s dry, Mediterranean climate can be a test for many European trees, but some have successfully adapted to the conditions, such as the ‘London Plane’ tree, most notably in Frome Road’s famous avenue.

This trail features some of Adelaide’s most treasured trees - both Australian and introduced- and tells you something of their stories. The trail covers the city and North Adelaide and could take a whole day to complete on foot, so we suggest you tackle it in sections, perhaps treating the North Adelaide trees as a separate excursion.

The trees in this trail have been selected from the Significant Tree Register maintained by the National Trust of South Australia. The register has been compiled over thirty years by many volunteers. You can search the national register online at www.trusttrees.org.au.