Seattle Area Tree Maps

These maps are your key to the trees of Seattle

Are you looking for treasure?! If the treasure is trees, the maps on this page will lead to them! Here, you can find map inventories of all the trees on the UW campus, all the street trees in Seattle, and all the trees of the Washington Park Arboretum. You can also find a map denoting tree removals around the city, and maps showing canopy loss. Best of luck finding your tree treasure!

The Campus Tree Tours only show off a fraction of the trees at the UW

Although the Campus Tree Tours display hundreds of tree species and specimens, they still include only a small proportion of the trees found on campus. Fortunately, the UW urban forester maintains a map of almost every one of the more than 9000 trees that define our landscape. Because of the dynamic nature of the grounds, it must be noted that this resource is not always fully accurate. Trees fall down and more are planted, which is not always immediately reflected in this map. Additionally, with such a large number of specimens, the map is bound to include some identification errors. That being said, it is a remarkable resource for determining what beautiful arboreal specimens may be found at UW and where they are located. For avid tree lovers who wish to go beyond the scope of the Campus Tree Tours, it is a fantastic jumping off point. If the map will not load on this site, try to follow the link to its main site.

The Emerald City, Seattle Street Trees:

For those who wish to engage with trees beyond the campus itself, the City of Seattle has several incredible resources through their Trees For Seattle website, including walking tours showcasing trees in every district of the city, including an abbreviated version of the Brockman Memorial Tree Tour. The site also contains a map displaying the street trees of our aptly named "Emerald City". To navigate to the street trees layer on the embedded map, select the triple bar icon in the upper left hand corner next to "Trees for Seattle" and select "Street Trees" in the drop down menu. The resource provides a great opportunity to practice tree identification skills off campus, and includes information on trunk diameter and ownership, Because of the sheer number of trees present in the city, some of the specimens listed may be out of date, but the bulk of those trees shown on the map are still present and healthy.

The Botanic Gardens, the Washington Park Arboretum:

Just across the Montlake Cut from the main UW Campus lies a 230 acre refuge in the midst of the city, the Washington Park Arboretum. The Arboretum is a diverse living museum with thousands of plant species and varieties, many found nowhere else in the Pacific Northwest, this park is home to thousands of trees which may be viewed using the parks Interactive Map. By zooming in on this resource, one may select individual plants and trees and learn a bit about their name, origin, and relation to other trees and plants in that section of the park using plant family information.

Tree Removals; Where Seattle is Losing Trees:

In the City of Seattle, permits are required for most tree work and removals. While these rules help protect our urban canopy to a degree, only a very small number of trees are actually legally protected from removal, and the city approves thousands of tree removal permits each year, often for new development which has not incorporated existing trees into the design. This map from the City of Seattle includes recently approved tree removal permits, as well as trees which have been protected and planted.

How valuable are these trees?

Tree are constantly improving our lives by cleaning the air, storing carbon, capturing stormwater, and improving mental and physical health (learn more on the ecosystem benefits page of this site)! But not all trees benefit us quite the same. Large trees filter more air and water than small trees. Some species, like the Silver Linden, are better at capturing pollution due to their fuzzy leaves. This map shows the individual ecosystem service value of every tree on the UW Campus! Created by campus tree tour guide Theo Hoss using the iTree software, these are the best estimates for how much it would cost to replace the water capturing, carbon storing, and pollution removing capabilities of all these trees. See if you can find out just which trees are doing the most!

Canopy Loss at UW; Where are we losing trees on campus:

Even with its incredible collection of trees and a campus renowned for its greenery, the University of Washington is currently losing tree canopy at a fast rate. Most of these losses are occurring as a result of development and renovations, highlighting the incredible difficulties that come with trying to balance canopy retention with growth, and the losses that can occur when planning fails to prioritize tree retention.

Canopy Loss in Seattle; Where the City Losing Canopy:

The Emerald City is slowly becoming less green. The map below shows off canopy loss around the city during the most recent study period of 2016-2021.

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