Getting ready for a burial at Greensprings:

  Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve is managed to have the look and feel of a nature preserve. Although a mowed path will lead to your site, please encourage people in your funeral party to dress as they might for a walk in the woods or a meadow—wearing sturdy walking shoes or boots. Please—don’t anyone wear high heels. The ground is a little uneven in places, so do watch your step.

  Bear in mind that Greensprings is on one of the highest points in our county. If it’s windy and cool or rainy where your home is, it’s likely to be windier and cooler (and just as rainy) at Greensprings. Depending on the season, people in your group would be advised to bring an extra sweater, jacket, hat, gloves, or rain boots—and perhaps umbrellas too. In winter, consider wearing long johns and have warm boots, gloves, hats, and scarves.

  If family members are coming from out of town, this website: http://www.visitithaca.com lists accommodations—or your funeral director can help you make arrangements.

  Bed and breakfasts in Newfield include Birdhaven, 167 Main Street, 607 564 9926; This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , and Noble Farm, 215 Connecticut Hill Rd.; This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ; 607 277 4798.

  Speaking of funeral directors—we list all area directors on our website: www.naturalburial.org, Go to “When a loved one dies … Who can help.”

  You may choose burial in a coffin or shroud. We ask that the coffin be made of locally harvested woods. You may make your own or call any of these woodworkers:

  Please choose pallbearers who are confident of their ability to lift, carry, and lower the coffin. Our sturdy “pallbearers friend” will help funeral parties move the coffin to the gravesite safely and with relative ease. We place “no-slip boards” alongside the grave to help you keep your footing. Your funeral director and staff, or our staff, may help you lower the coffin into the grave.

  We can’t offer you the opportunity to dig the grave but you may close the grave after burial if you like. Keep in mind that the soil is dense and rocky, and it will take considerable time and work. We can’t offer a discount for this. Please let us know beforehand if the grave should be sited in any particular direction (east-west, for example). 

Directions to Greensprings:

  From Ithaca: Take Route 13 south (Elmira Road out of Ithaca). Drive about 4.5 miles from city limits (near entrance to Buttermilk Falls). (Follow sign for Elmira (right lane) where Route 13 splits from Routes 34 & 96.) At sign for Newfield, turn left. Turn right on Main Street. 1/4 mile south of village, bear left on Van Kirk Road. Continue south 4 miles; where Van Kirk bends nearly 90 degrees to left, slow down, then go straight onto Irish Hill Road. Continue 1-1/4 mile to Greensprings.

  From I-86 (NYS Route 17): Take Exit 54, State Route 13 north, about 19 miles. Look for signs for Trumbull Corners Road. (This intersection should be about 7 miles after the Rt. 13-Rt. 224 crossroad.) Turn right at Trumbull Corners Road. At stop sign, turn right. Take first left turn, onto Van Kirk Road. Continue south 4 miles; where Van Kirk bends nearly 90 degrees to left, slow down, then go straight onto Irish Hill Road. Continue 1-1/4 mile to Greensprings.

  It takes nearly a half-hour to travel the 16 miles from Ithaca to Greensprings. Please encourage your family and friends to leave early and take it slow. Irish Hill Road is a narrow dirt road, and the neighbors will be happier if you don’t speed. 

About commemorative plantings:

  We’re developing an ecological restoration plan for the land—one that takes topography, soil types, existing landscape conditions, and the needs of landscape communities and zones into account.

  Please see our “Commemorative Planting Guide” for more information. 

About choosing a stone:

  You may choose a natural fieldstone, no greater than 400 square inches, that lies flush with the ground. Gary Bush, 607 227 4886, engraves natural stones. You may also choose a flat quarried (but not polished) stone—likewise no greater than 400 square inches--from the seconds pile at Finger Lakes Stone, 33 Quarry Road, Ithaca, NY; 607.273.4646. Larry Weaver, 607 273 4522, engraves flat quarried stones. 

Etceteras:

  Keep in mind that winter burials may need to be in our winter burial area—or incur extra backhoe costs.