Wildwood Cemetery

Welcome to Wildwood Cemetery. Wildwood is a non-profit, non-denominational, active cemetery in the college town of Amherst, MA. The cemetery was established in 1887 and the landscape design was inspired by the work of the famous NY Central Park designer Frederick Law Olmsted. The cemetery is frequented by bird watchers and naturalists of all ages interested in their flora and fauna.  The grounds are open dawn to dusk and everyone is welcome.

The Wildwood Cemetery Arboretum is a community arboretum with over 85 acres of historic trees that line our roads, paths, gravesites, and surround our tranquil gardens. Many of their trees are located in roughly 35 acres of conserved woodland, and the North Woods gravesites. The North Woods area of the arboretum offers a unique ambiance where visitors can enjoy a graveyard in the forest with trees growing at nearly every gravestone. In addition, the arboretum has incorporated new, climate resilient plantings in their garden, and in rows along paths and open lawn areas. There are also a few large wolf trees that they believe to have been here since the cemetery's founding in 1887.

The arboretum has many unique and highly valued trees and tree growth patterns that they work to preserve. Special trees include a Pignut Hickory that was topped to reduce its risk of failure due to decay. As the decay expanded, a Black Birch began to grow out of the Pignut and the two have coexisted for years. Sugar Maples, Swamp (Red) Maples, Oaks, and Hemlock line the roads throughout the cemetery as well the pond in the northwest corner of the property. Stop by the pond in fall to see their Willow tree and a line of gorgeous Red Maples.