People often ask us, “Do you get a lot of people coming through the cemetery?”
The answer is: Yes! Yes, we do!
Woodlawn Memorial Park spreads over 80 acres of land, filled with trees and walking paths. Our park offers a network of over 4 kilometres of trails. It’s a place to enjoy the changing seasons, a museum filled with art and history, a habitat for honey bees, a memorialization of family and friends, the backdrop for a number of community events, and it even has an arbour fund to ensure the well-being of hundreds of trees that thrive in the park.
We’ve created a blog to share just some of the key reasons you should visit Woodlawn Memorial Park in Guelph:
1. The Trails
Woodlawn Memorial Park has 4km of paved roads for guests to drive down or walk along, and a beautiful tree canopy provides shade from the hot summer sun as you make your way along any of the five trail systems that wind through the Park.
The trail system includes:
- The Johnson Trail: 0.8 km
- The Trans-Canada Trail: 1.0 km
- The Chapel Trail: 1.1 km
- The Garden Trail: 1.4 km
- The Veterans’ Trail: 2.0 km
For a map of our trail systems, click here.
2. The Grounds
The rich nature of our grounds, combined with the beautiful monuments, the children’s memorial garden, the mausoleum, and more, provide visitors with an opportunity to become immersed in one of the loveliest places in Guelph.
With over 160 years of rich history, taking a walk through the park is like stepping back in time. Wander through our Dodds Reflection Garden, admire the Mothers’ Grove Garden, and look high and low in the Peace Poll Garden– there are endless things to see.
3. Your Senses Will Come Alive
Walking through the park in the early morning, when traffic is calm and the sun is rising gives you the opportunity to hear the birds chirping and the squirrels scurrying along. You can enjoy the beauty of the sun rising — its rays peeking through the leaves in the trees.
Take a deep breath and enjoy all of the different aromas from our trees, shrubs, and flowers. Touch the different types of stones used for monuments and feel the difference between the granite used today and the marble and limestone used in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Feel the mist from our fountain on your face and the breeze that blows between the trees. It’s very relaxing.
4. Our History
The history of Woodlawn Memorial Park is as old as the City of Guelph! Our roots go back to our city’s founding in 1827.
We were known as the Union Cemetery back then and we were situated in the heart of Guelph at the Baker Street parking lot. In 1854, we opened our gates at our current location and the rest is, well, history. We have many generations worth of family and communal histories at the Park that tells the story of the people who made this city what it is today.
If you’d like to listen to audio clips of some of those histories, click here.
When Will We See You?
Aside from our lovely trails, we also host many fun-filled events throughout the year, like our Classic Car Show, our Remembrance Day event and more. To keep up-to-date on all our events, sign-up to receive our email newsletter.
The beauty of our grounds is best experienced in person, so when you have a moment, come visit Woodlawn Memorial Park. We look forward to seeing you.
For more information about Woodlawn Memorial Park, get in touch.
