diff --git a/doc/api/io.rst b/doc/api/io.rst
index fffc7785800..62446324e3c 100644
--- a/doc/api/io.rst
+++ b/doc/api/io.rst
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ DataTree methods
 .. autosummary::
    :toctree: ../generated/
 
+   load_datatree
    open_datatree
    open_groups
    DataTree.to_dict
diff --git a/doc/whats-new.rst b/doc/whats-new.rst
index 38bff514c64..a46dba9f15a 100644
--- a/doc/whats-new.rst
+++ b/doc/whats-new.rst
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ v2025.08.1 (unreleased)
 New Features
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
+- Added :py:func:`load_datatree` for loading ``DataTree`` objects into memory
+  from disk. It has the same relationship to :py:func:`open_datatree`, as
+  :py:func:`load_dataset` has to :py:func:`open_dataset`.
+  By `Stephan Hoyer <https://github.com/shoyer>`_.
 - ``compute=False`` is now supported by :py:meth:`DataTree.to_netcdf` and
   :py:meth:`DataTree.to_zarr`.
   By `Stephan Hoyer <https://github.com/shoyer>`_.
diff --git a/xarray/__init__.py b/xarray/__init__.py
index 04fb5b03867..7901fffcbed 100644
--- a/xarray/__init__.py
+++ b/xarray/__init__.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 from xarray.backends.api import (
     load_dataarray,
     load_dataset,
+    load_datatree,
     open_dataarray,
     open_dataset,
     open_datatree,
@@ -96,6 +97,7 @@
     "infer_freq",
     "load_dataarray",
     "load_dataset",
+    "load_datatree",
     "map_blocks",
     "map_over_datasets",
     "merge",
diff --git a/xarray/backends/api.py b/xarray/backends/api.py
index 86adfc8b7ce..afe840d946f 100644
--- a/xarray/backends/api.py
+++ b/xarray/backends/api.py
@@ -328,7 +328,7 @@ def _multi_file_closer(closers):
         closer()
 
 
-def load_dataset(filename_or_obj, **kwargs) -> Dataset:
+def load_dataset(filename_or_obj: T_PathFileOrDataStore, **kwargs) -> Dataset:
     """Open, load into memory, and close a Dataset from a file or file-like
     object.
 
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@ def load_dataset(filename_or_obj, **kwargs) -> Dataset:
         return ds.load()
 
 
-def load_dataarray(filename_or_obj, **kwargs):
+def load_dataarray(filename_or_obj: T_PathFileOrDataStore, **kwargs) -> DataArray:
     """Open, load into memory, and close a DataArray from a file or file-like
     object containing a single data variable.
 
@@ -380,6 +380,32 @@ def load_dataarray(filename_or_obj, **kwargs):
         return da.load()
 
 
+def load_datatree(filename_or_obj: T_PathFileOrDataStore, **kwargs) -> DataTree:
+    """Open, load into memory, and close a DataTree from a file or file-like
+    object.
+
+    This is a thin wrapper around :py:meth:`~xarray.open_datatree`. It differs
+    from `open_datatree` in that it loads the DataTree into memory, closes the
+    file, and returns the DataTree. In contrast, `open_datatree` keeps the file
+    handle open and lazy loads its contents. All parameters are passed directly
+    to `open_datatree`. See that documentation for further details.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    datatree : DataTree
+        The newly created DataTree.
+
+    See Also
+    --------
+    open_datatree
+    """
+    if "cache" in kwargs:
+        raise TypeError("cache has no effect in this context")
+
+    with open_datatree(filename_or_obj, **kwargs) as dt:
+        return dt.load()
+
+
 def _chunk_ds(
     backend_ds,
     filename_or_obj,
diff --git a/xarray/tests/test_backends.py b/xarray/tests/test_backends.py
index a8cbb6620d1..3a359cca1ae 100644
--- a/xarray/tests/test_backends.py
+++ b/xarray/tests/test_backends.py
@@ -34,9 +34,11 @@
 from xarray import (
     DataArray,
     Dataset,
+    DataTree,
     backends,
     load_dataarray,
     load_dataset,
+    load_datatree,
     open_dataarray,
     open_dataset,
     open_mfdataset,
@@ -6117,17 +6119,29 @@ def test_load_dataset(self) -> None:
             original = Dataset({"foo": ("x", np.random.randn(10))})
             original.to_netcdf(tmp)
             ds = load_dataset(tmp)
+            assert_identical(original, ds)
             # this would fail if we used open_dataset instead of load_dataset
             ds.to_netcdf(tmp)
 
     def test_load_dataarray(self) -> None:
         with create_tmp_file() as tmp:
-            original = Dataset({"foo": ("x", np.random.randn(10))})
+            original = DataArray(np.random.randn(10), dims=["x"])
             original.to_netcdf(tmp)
-            ds = load_dataarray(tmp)
+            da = load_dataarray(tmp)
+            assert_identical(original, da)
             # this would fail if we used open_dataarray instead of
             # load_dataarray
-            ds.to_netcdf(tmp)
+            da.to_netcdf(tmp)
+
+    def test_load_datatree(self) -> None:
+        with create_tmp_file() as tmp:
+            original = DataTree(Dataset({"foo": ("x", np.random.randn(10))}))
+            original.to_netcdf(tmp)
+            dt = load_datatree(tmp)
+            xr.testing.assert_identical(original, dt)
+            # this would fail if we used open_datatree instead of
+            # load_datatree
+            dt.to_netcdf(tmp)
 
     @pytest.mark.skipif(
         ON_WINDOWS,