Virginia
Virginia’s story is steeped in history, from Revolutionary soil to rolling Blue Ridge forests, this is a state where the land remembers. And now, it’s also becoming a place where people are reimagining what it means to rest within that land. Across the Commonwealth, a quiet movement toward green and conservation burial is taking root, one that honors ancestry, preserves ecosystems, and restores balance between human life and the natural world.
🌿Forest Rest Natural Cemetery - Boones Mill, VA
Tucked within the quiet woods of Boones Mill, Forest Rest Natural Cemetery offers something rare in southwest Virginia, a place to return to the earth naturally, without embalming, vaults, or excess. Surrounded by native trees and birdsong, it’s a serene sanctuary where simplicity meets sustainability, allowing loved ones to rest gently within the soil that sustains all life.
At Forest Rest, there’s no need for heavy metal caskets or toxic chemicals. Families can choose a shroud, favorite blanket, or biodegradable pine or wicker casket, embracing a gentler approach to burial. Graves can even be dug by hand, reducing emissions and deepening the personal connection to the land.
Located adjacent to Mountain View Burial Park, Forest Rest is the only certified natural cemetery in southwest Virginia, spanning over a hundred miles in every direction. It fills a vital gap for families seeking a return to traditional, meaningful, and environmentally conscious burial practices between Lexington, VA and Raleigh, NC.
🌿Duck Run Cemetery - Penn Laid, VA
Nestled in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, Duck Run Natural Cemetery in Penn Laird is Virginia’s first 100% natural cemetery, redefining what it means to rest lightly on the earth. This peaceful 8-acre sanctuary, designed to expand to 113 acres over time, offers both traditional green burial lots and an innovative concept rarely seen in the U.S.: 75-year renewable plots.
Each renewable lot at Duck Run is leased for 75 years, a timespan chosen to ensure complete natural decomposition while allowing up to four generations of family to visit the resting place. After that period, the lot may be renewed or returned to the land for another natural burial. It’s a model of true sustainability, one that honors the cyclical nature of life and death.
Duck Run was once a dairy farm, now, it’s being lovingly restored into a thriving ecosystem. Certified by the Green Burial Council, the cemetery’s restoration efforts help rebuild native habitat, conserve resources, and protect soil and water quality. Walking trails wind through meadows and woodland, while scattering gardens offer another gentle way to return ashes to the earth.
There are no vaults, no metal caskets, and no embalming chemicals at Duck Run. Families may choose biodegradable shrouds, wicker caskets, or pine boxes, and each grave is marked with a simple fieldstone or native plant. For those seeking connection and simplicity, the experience here evokes the original meaning of “ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”
🌿Panorama Natural Burial - Earlysville, VA
In the rolling hills of Earlysville, Virginia, Panorama Natural Burial carries forward a legacy of love for land, life, and community. Founded in 1953 by James “Jim” Murray and Jean “Bunny” Murray, Panorama Farms began as a place of stewardship and service, and now, it’s where their family continues their mission by offering Virginia’s most exceptional natural burial experience.
Jim and Bunny devoted their lives to thoughtful land care, transforming Panorama Farms from a working farm into a hub for organic composting, conservation, and community recreation. When they passed, their final wish was fulfilled in the most poetic way, returning their bodies to the same earth they had nurtured, in simple, regenerative burials that mirrored their lifelong values.
What makes Panorama extraordinary is its living energy. Wildlife flourishes among native grasses, dogs trot the trails beside visitors, and Tree Stewards and local conservation groups gather for restoration and educational work. The upcoming Restoration Committee (2024) will guide efforts to restore meadows and forests, ensuring that every burial strengthens the ecosystem that sustains it.
🌿Cool Springs Natural Cemetery at Holy Cross Abbey - Berrysville, VA
Tucked beside the Shenandoah River and framed by the Blue Ridge Mountains, Cool Spring Natural Cemetery rests on the sacred grounds of Holy Cross Abbey in Berryville, Virginia, a place where prayer, peace, and reverence for the land have guided life for over sixty years.
Maintained and managed by the Cistercian monks of Holy Cross Abbey, this natural cemetery reflects a centuries-old monastic devotion to stewardship and hospitality. Burial here is more than a final resting place, it’s a continuation of the monks’ contemplative relationship with the land and the sacred rhythm of life and death.
The monks describe Cool Spring as “a tangible extension of our life of worship and care for creation.” To be buried here is to join a living monastic tradition, one rooted in humility, respect for all life, and communion with the natural world.
While consecrated as a Roman Catholic Cemetery, Cool Spring welcomes people of all faiths and beliefs who wish for a natural return to the earth. Embalming, vaults, and metal caskets are not permitted. Instead, burials take place in biodegradable containers, with simple engraved fieldstones from the Abbey grounds marking each grave.
If you want information on how to start your own natural burial cemetery, or you want to make me aware of another green, natural, or hybrid cemetery in this state, please reach out!
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