diff --git a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
index e98a5d54948..45b27174052 100644
--- a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -801,7 +801,11 @@ endif()
 set(ARROW_SHARED_PRIVATE_LINK_LIBS ${ARROW_STATIC_LINK_LIBS})
 
 # boost::filesystem is needed for S3 and Flight tests as a boost::process dependency.
-if(((ARROW_FLIGHT OR ARROW_S3) AND (ARROW_BUILD_TESTS OR ARROW_BUILD_INTEGRATION)))
+if(((ARROW_FLIGHT
+     OR ARROW_S3
+     OR ARROW_GCS)
+    AND (ARROW_BUILD_TESTS OR ARROW_BUILD_INTEGRATION)
+   ))
   list(APPEND ARROW_TEST_LINK_LIBS ${BOOST_FILESYSTEM_LIBRARY} ${BOOST_SYSTEM_LIBRARY})
 endif()
 
diff --git a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
index e1201886ccf..0fcbcc7d705 100644
--- a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
+++ b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
@@ -2572,8 +2572,10 @@ macro(build_absl_once)
           "${ABSL_PREFIX}/lib/${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_PREFIX}absl_${_ABSL_LIB}${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}"
       )
       add_library(absl::${_ABSL_LIB} STATIC IMPORTED)
-      set_target_properties(absl::${_ABSL_LIB} PROPERTIES IMPORTED_LOCATION
-                                                          ${_ABSL_STATIC_LIBRARY})
+      set_target_properties(absl::${_ABSL_LIB}
+                            PROPERTIES IMPORTED_LOCATION ${_ABSL_STATIC_LIBRARY}
+                                       INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES
+                                       "${ABSL_PREFIX}/include")
       list(APPEND ABSL_BUILD_BYPRODUCTS ${_ABSL_STATIC_LIBRARY})
     endforeach()
     foreach(_ABSL_LIB ${_ABSL_INTERFACE_LIBS})
@@ -3704,6 +3706,13 @@ endmacro()
 
 if(ARROW_WITH_GOOGLE_CLOUD_CPP)
   resolve_dependency(google_cloud_cpp_storage)
+  get_target_property(google_cloud_cpp_storage_INCLUDE_DIR google-cloud-cpp::storage
+                      INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES)
+  include_directories(SYSTEM ${google_cloud_cpp_storage_INCLUDE_DIR})
+  get_target_property(absl_base_INCLUDE_DIR absl::base INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES)
+  include_directories(SYSTEM ${absl_base_INCLUDE_DIR})
+  message(STATUS "Found google-cloud-cpp::storage headers: ${google_cloud_cpp_storage_INCLUDE_DIR}"
+  )
 endif()
 
 #
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/src/arrow/CMakeLists.txt
index d97828fe918..b82cccf24df 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -451,6 +451,12 @@ if(ARROW_FILESYSTEM)
        filesystem/path_util.cc
        filesystem/util_internal.cc)
 
+  if(ARROW_GCS)
+    list(APPEND ARROW_SRCS filesystem/gcsfs.cc)
+    set_source_files_properties(filesystem/gcsfs.cc
+                                PROPERTIES SKIP_PRECOMPILE_HEADERS ON
+                                           SKIP_UNITY_BUILD_INCLUSION ON)
+  endif()
   if(ARROW_HDFS)
     list(APPEND ARROW_SRCS filesystem/hdfs.cc)
   endif()
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/CMakeLists.txt
index c917db3b99c..67ebe54895c 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ add_arrow_test(filesystem-test
                EXTRA_LABELS
                filesystem)
 
+if(ARROW_GCS)
+  add_arrow_test(gcsfs_test EXTRA_LABELS filesystem)
+endif()
+
 if(ARROW_S3)
   add_arrow_test(s3fs_test EXTRA_LABELS filesystem)
   if(TARGET arrow-s3fs-test)
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/gcsfs.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/gcsfs.cc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..58bbbbfd06c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/gcsfs.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+#include "arrow/filesystem/gcsfs.h"
+
+#include <google/cloud/storage/client.h>
+
+#include <sstream>
+
+#include "arrow/filesystem/path_util.h"
+#include "arrow/result.h"
+#include "arrow/util/checked_cast.h"
+
+namespace arrow {
+namespace fs {
+
+namespace gcs = google::cloud::storage;
+
+google::cloud::Options AsGoogleCloudOptions(const GcsOptions& o) {
+  auto options = google::cloud::Options{};
+  if (!o.endpoint_override.empty()) {
+    std::string scheme = o.scheme;
+    if (scheme.empty()) scheme = "https";
+    options.set<gcs::RestEndpointOption>(scheme + "://" + o.endpoint_override);
+  }
+  return options;
+}
+
+class GcsFileSystem::Impl {
+ public:
+  explicit Impl(GcsOptions o)
+      : options_(std::move(o)), client_(AsGoogleCloudOptions(options_)) {}
+
+  GcsOptions const& options() const { return options_; }
+
+ private:
+  GcsOptions options_;
+  gcs::Client client_;
+};
+
+bool GcsOptions::Equals(const GcsOptions& other) const {
+  return endpoint_override == other.endpoint_override && scheme == other.scheme;
+}
+
+std::string GcsFileSystem::type_name() const { return "gcs"; }
+
+bool GcsFileSystem::Equals(const FileSystem& other) const {
+  if (this == &other) {
+    return true;
+  }
+  if (other.type_name() != type_name()) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  const auto& fs = ::arrow::internal::checked_cast<const GcsFileSystem&>(other);
+  return impl_->options().Equals(fs.impl_->options());
+}
+
+Result<FileInfo> GcsFileSystem::GetFileInfo(const std::string& path) {
+  return Status::NotImplemented("The GCS FileSystem is not fully implemented");
+}
+
+Result<FileInfoVector> GcsFileSystem::GetFileInfo(const FileSelector& select) {
+  return Status::NotImplemented("The GCS FileSystem is not fully implemented");
+}
+
+Status GcsFileSystem::CreateDir(const std::string& path, bool recursive) {
+  return Status::NotImplemented("The GCS FileSystem is not fully implemented");
+}
+
+Status GcsFileSystem::DeleteDir(const std::string& path) {
+  return Status::NotImplemented("The GCS FileSystem is not fully implemented");
+}
+
+Status GcsFileSystem::DeleteDirContents(const std::string& path) {
+  return Status::NotImplemented("The GCS FileSystem is not fully implemented");
+}
+
+Status GcsFileSystem::DeleteRootDirContents() {
+  return Status::NotImplemented("The GCS FileSystem is not fully implemented");
+}
+
+Status GcsFileSystem::DeleteFile(const std::string& path) {
+  return Status::NotImplemented("The GCS FileSystem is not fully implemented");
+}
+
+Status GcsFileSystem::Move(const std::string& src, const std::string& dest) {
+  return Status::NotImplemented("The GCS FileSystem is not fully implemented");
+}
+
+Status GcsFileSystem::CopyFile(const std::string& src, const std::string& dest) {
+  return Status::NotImplemented("The GCS FileSystem is not fully implemented");
+}
+
+Result<std::shared_ptr<io::InputStream>> GcsFileSystem::OpenInputStream(
+    const std::string& path) {
+  return Status::NotImplemented("The GCS FileSystem is not fully implemented");
+}
+
+Result<std::shared_ptr<io::InputStream>> GcsFileSystem::OpenInputStream(
+    const FileInfo& info) {
+  return Status::NotImplemented("The GCS FileSystem is not fully implemented");
+}
+
+Result<std::shared_ptr<io::RandomAccessFile>> GcsFileSystem::OpenInputFile(
+    const std::string& path) {
+  return Status::NotImplemented("The GCS FileSystem is not fully implemented");
+}
+
+Result<std::shared_ptr<io::RandomAccessFile>> GcsFileSystem::OpenInputFile(
+    const FileInfo& info) {
+  return Status::NotImplemented("The GCS FileSystem is not fully implemented");
+}
+
+Result<std::shared_ptr<io::OutputStream>> GcsFileSystem::OpenOutputStream(
+    const std::string& path, const std::shared_ptr<const KeyValueMetadata>& metadata) {
+  return Status::NotImplemented("The GCS FileSystem is not fully implemented");
+}
+
+Result<std::shared_ptr<io::OutputStream>> GcsFileSystem::OpenAppendStream(
+    const std::string&, const std::shared_ptr<const KeyValueMetadata>&) {
+  return Status::NotImplemented("Append is not supported in GCS");
+}
+
+GcsFileSystem::GcsFileSystem(const GcsOptions& options, const io::IOContext& context)
+    : FileSystem(context), impl_(std::make_shared<Impl>(options)) {}
+
+namespace internal {
+
+std::shared_ptr<GcsFileSystem> MakeGcsFileSystemForTest(const GcsOptions& options) {
+  // Cannot use `std::make_shared<>` as the constructor is private.
+  return std::shared_ptr<GcsFileSystem>(
+      new GcsFileSystem(options, io::default_io_context()));
+}
+
+}  // namespace internal
+
+}  // namespace fs
+}  // namespace arrow
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/gcsfs.h b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/gcsfs.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2583bdee820
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/gcsfs.h
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <memory>
+#include <string>
+#include <vector>
+
+#include "arrow/filesystem/filesystem.h"
+
+namespace arrow {
+namespace fs {
+class GcsFileSystem;
+struct GcsOptions;
+namespace internal {
+// TODO(ARROW-1231) - remove, and provide a public API (static GcsFileSystem::Make()).
+std::shared_ptr<GcsFileSystem> MakeGcsFileSystemForTest(const GcsOptions& options);
+}  // namespace internal
+
+/// Options for the GcsFileSystem implementation.
+struct ARROW_EXPORT GcsOptions {
+  std::string endpoint_override;
+  std::string scheme;
+
+  bool Equals(const GcsOptions& other) const;
+};
+
+/// \brief GCS-backed FileSystem implementation.
+///
+/// Some implementation notes:
+/// - TODO(ARROW-1231) - review all the notes once completed.
+/// - buckets are treated as top-level directories on a "root".
+/// - GCS buckets are in a global namespace, only one bucket
+///   named `foo` exists in Google Cloud.
+/// - Creating new top-level directories is implemented by creating
+///   a bucket, this may be a slower operation than usual.
+/// - A principal (service account, user, etc) can only list the
+///   buckets for a single project, but can access the buckets
+///   for many projects. It is possible that listing "all"
+///   the buckets returns fewer buckets than you have access to.
+/// - GCS does not have directories, they are emulated in this
+///   library by listing objects with a common prefix.
+/// - In general, GCS has much higher latency than local filesystems.
+///   The throughput of GCS is comparable to the throughput of
+///   a local file system.
+class ARROW_EXPORT GcsFileSystem : public FileSystem {
+ public:
+  ~GcsFileSystem() override = default;
+
+  std::string type_name() const override;
+
+  bool Equals(const FileSystem& other) const override;
+
+  Result<FileInfo> GetFileInfo(const std::string& path) override;
+  Result<FileInfoVector> GetFileInfo(const FileSelector& select) override;
+
+  Status CreateDir(const std::string& path, bool recursive) override;
+
+  Status DeleteDir(const std::string& path) override;
+
+  Status DeleteDirContents(const std::string& path) override;
+
+  Status DeleteRootDirContents() override;
+
+  Status DeleteFile(const std::string& path) override;
+
+  Status Move(const std::string& src, const std::string& dest) override;
+
+  Status CopyFile(const std::string& src, const std::string& dest) override;
+
+  Result<std::shared_ptr<io::InputStream>> OpenInputStream(
+      const std::string& path) override;
+  Result<std::shared_ptr<io::InputStream>> OpenInputStream(const FileInfo& info) override;
+
+  Result<std::shared_ptr<io::RandomAccessFile>> OpenInputFile(
+      const std::string& path) override;
+  Result<std::shared_ptr<io::RandomAccessFile>> OpenInputFile(
+      const FileInfo& info) override;
+
+  Result<std::shared_ptr<io::OutputStream>> OpenOutputStream(
+      const std::string& path,
+      const std::shared_ptr<const KeyValueMetadata>& metadata) override;
+
+  ARROW_DEPRECATED(
+      "Deprecated. "
+      "OpenAppendStream is unsupported on the GCS FileSystem.")
+  Result<std::shared_ptr<io::OutputStream>> OpenAppendStream(
+      const std::string& path,
+      const std::shared_ptr<const KeyValueMetadata>& metadata) override;
+
+ private:
+  /// Create a GcsFileSystem instance from the given options.
+  friend std::shared_ptr<GcsFileSystem> internal::MakeGcsFileSystemForTest(
+      const GcsOptions& options);
+
+  explicit GcsFileSystem(const GcsOptions& options, const io::IOContext& io_context);
+
+  class Impl;
+  std::shared_ptr<Impl> impl_;
+};
+
+}  // namespace fs
+}  // namespace arrow
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/gcsfs_test.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/gcsfs_test.cc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5d8c7b5a40a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/gcsfs_test.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+#include "arrow/filesystem/gcsfs.h"
+
+#include <gmock/gmock-matchers.h>
+#include <gmock/gmock-more-matchers.h>
+#include <gtest/gtest.h>
+
+#include <string>
+
+#include "arrow/testing/gtest_util.h"
+#include "arrow/testing/util.h"
+
+namespace arrow {
+namespace fs {
+namespace {
+
+using ::testing::IsEmpty;
+using ::testing::Not;
+using ::testing::NotNull;
+
+TEST(GcsFileSystem, OptionsCompare) {
+  GcsOptions a;
+  GcsOptions b;
+  b.endpoint_override = "localhost:1234";
+  EXPECT_TRUE(a.Equals(a));
+  EXPECT_TRUE(b.Equals(b));
+  auto c = b;
+  c.scheme = "http";
+  EXPECT_FALSE(b.Equals(c));
+}
+
+TEST(GcsFileSystem, FileSystemCompare) {
+  auto a = internal::MakeGcsFileSystemForTest(GcsOptions{});
+  EXPECT_THAT(a, NotNull());
+  EXPECT_TRUE(a->Equals(*a));
+
+  GcsOptions options;
+  options.endpoint_override = "localhost:1234";
+  auto b = internal::MakeGcsFileSystemForTest(options);
+  EXPECT_THAT(b, NotNull());
+  EXPECT_TRUE(b->Equals(*b));
+
+  EXPECT_FALSE(a->Equals(*b));
+}
+
+}  // namespace
+}  // namespace fs
+}  // namespace arrow