If you’re looking into natural burial in Texas, you’ve probably already discovered the most confusing part: it’s not one uniform thing. “Green burial” can mean a fully natural burial with no embalming and no vault, or it can mean a conventional cemetery offering a smaller natural section with its own rules. That’s why families don’t just compare prices or locations. They compare guidelines—what’s allowed, what’s prohibited, what the cemetery will do for you, and what the family can (or must) do themselves.
Eloise Woods Natural Burial Park is a natural burial park near the Austin area that has clear, specific standards around materials, body care, and memorialization. In other words, it’s the kind of place where your “simple, earth-friendly burial” intentions don’t get derailed by last-minute policies about vaults, caskets, or headstones. If you’re considering Eloise Woods—or simply using it as a model for what to ask any Texas green cemetery—this guide will walk you through what to confirm, how the real-world logistics work, and how to think about related choices that often come up alongside burial decisions, including funeral planning, how much does cremation cost, and even the question of what to do with ashes when a family chooses cremation instead (or in addition).
What Makes Eloise Woods “Natural” in Practice
Natural burial is easiest to understand when you focus on the three things most green cemeteries protect: the body is cared for without toxic chemicals, the burial container is biodegradable, and the grave is not enclosed in a concrete vault that isolates the body from the soil. The Green Burial Council describes green burial categories and emphasizes practices like avoiding vaults and using biodegradable containers, and the National Funeral Directors Association similarly explains green burial as “no embalming, no liners or vaults, and biodegradable containers.” Those broad standards become meaningful when you see how a specific cemetery applies them day to day.
At Eloise Woods, the rules are straightforward. Embalming is prohibited. Burial containers must be biodegradable and free of synthetic liners and plastic or metal hardware; shrouds must be made of natural fibers rather than polyester or acrylic. Even memorialization is designed to stay close to the landscape: markers must be flat field stones (or other natural stone), low to the ground, and approved by management before placement. If your family is drawn to green burial because it feels quiet and unforced, these guidelines are not small details. They are the reason the place continues to look and feel like a burial woodland rather than a manicured lawn.
The park’s guidance is also practical in ways families don’t always anticipate. Eloise Woods allows fresh cut flowers, but not artificial flowers, and it explains that flowers will be gathered within a short window to keep the woods from becoming cluttered over time. Ornamentation like toys, decorations, and borders is not permitted. If you’ve been to cemeteries where families compete (without meaning to) through larger monuments and more elaborate décor, you’ll understand why this matters. It removes pressure. You’re not being asked to “perform” grief. You’re being invited into a space where remembrance can be small, natural, and real.
What Families Should Confirm Before Choosing Eloise Woods in Texas
The most important planning move you can make is to separate “what Texas law allows” from “what the cemetery requires.” Texas may not require a vault, for example, but a conventional cemetery might. Texas may not require embalming in most situations, but a cemetery like Eloise Woods may prohibit it entirely. Clarity lives in the overlap between those two categories: legal requirements, and the specific cemetery’s written rules.
Body Care in Texas: Embalming, Refrigeration, and Timing
In Texas, embalming is not automatically required by law, but timing and refrigeration matter. The Texas Funeral Directors Association explains that embalming is not required by state law unless the body is held or in transit for more than 24 hours and not refrigerated within a specified temperature range. This is where natural burial planning becomes concrete. If your family wants a burial that avoids embalming, you can still have time to gather, but you may need refrigeration or other lawful preservation options, and you will want a funeral home (or licensed professional) who understands how to support an unembalmed timeline without creating fear or confusion.
When families feel rushed, it’s often because no one has mapped the timeline. A natural burial can still include a meaningful gathering, prayers, readings, music, and a graveside moment. It just tends to work best when everyone understands what’s possible and what needs to happen first: transportation, paperwork, cemetery scheduling, and any required preparation.
Paperwork and Permits: What Usually Has to Happen
Texas procedures can sound intimidating, but the underlying idea is simple: there is a formal chain of authorization that allows a cemetery to accept a body for burial. For transport and cremation, the details become more explicit. The Texas Department of State Health Services’ TxEVER FAQ explains that a burial transit permit issued by the local registrar allows either cremation or transportation between states, and it also clarifies that local registrars are still responsible for issuing these permits. Even if your plan is a natural burial rather than cremation, this is a useful frame: permits and registrar processes are part of the invisible infrastructure that makes a burial possible, and a calm funeral director (or the cemetery’s preferred process) can keep it from feeling overwhelming.
Eloise Woods Logistics: What the “Woodland Setting” Means on a Real Day
A natural burial park is not a traditional cemetery with paved lanes, bright lights, and on-site facilities. Eloise Woods is open from sunrise to sunset, and visiting is meant to feel like walking in the woods, not like entering a managed lawn. The park’s own visitor guidance is worth reading carefully, because it affects how you plan the day. The directions page notes there are no facilities in the park—no electricity, bathrooms, or water—so families should plan accordingly. That is not a drawback; it is part of the philosophy. It just means you plan for comfort: chairs, shade considerations, water for guests, and a realistic sense of who can navigate uneven ground.
Families also understandably worry about “How will we find the grave later?” Eloise Woods addresses this directly. In its FAQ, the cemetery explains that it keeps records of each interment location and that graves can be located with GPS coordinates and compass directions, alongside approved markers. This matters because green burial often avoids the tall visual landmarks people are used to. The tradeoff is a landscape that stays natural, paired with records that make the location findable for future visits.
Pricing is another practical question families need answered early, and it’s one of the places where you should always confirm “as of today.” Eloise Woods publishes pricing information on its services page (noting those prices were as of September 12, 2022), including plot costs and opening/closing fees. Treat published prices as a helpful starting point, then confirm current totals and what is included when you call. In green burial planning, the “included” details matter: scheduling, staff support, equipment, and how family participation is handled.
Questions to Ask That Prevent the Most Common Last-Minute Surprises
Even when a cemetery has clear rules, families can still be caught off guard if they assume something is “standard.” In green burial, the standards are often simple, but they are not universal. If you want a short list of confirmations that genuinely prevents stress, these are the questions that tend to matter most:
- Where can the service happen, and what does the cemetery provide on site versus what the family must bring?
- What are the allowed burial containers and fabrics in practical terms (including hardware, liners, and closures)?
- What is the cemetery’s policy on refrigeration, timing, and scheduling when embalming is not used?
- What markers are allowed now, and what is the approval process for a field stone or engraved stone?
- What rules apply to flowers, décor, and plantings—especially if your family wants to leave something meaningful at the grave?
- What paperwork does the cemetery need before it can proceed, and who usually handles it in their process?
Notice that none of those questions are “What should we buy?” They’re about avoiding avoidable conflict and making the day feel steady. Once those answers are clear, families usually feel calmer about everything else.
Where Cremation Still Fits in the Conversation (Even for Green-Minded Families)
It may seem odd to discuss cremation in an article about natural burial, but many Texas families consider both. Sometimes the family wants natural burial and the person wanted cremation. Sometimes the opposite happens: the family wants the simplicity of cremation, but they want an earth-friendly approach to memorialization. And sometimes a family chooses a combination plan over time—because grief and logistics rarely arrive neatly aligned.
This is also a national trend. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the U.S. cremation rate is projected to be 63.4% in 2025, and NFDA also reports that people who prefer cremation often split between interring cremated remains in a cemetery, keeping them in an urn at home, or scattering. CANA’s Industry Statistical Information similarly reflects recent U.S. cremation rates around the low 60% range. The point is not that one choice is “better.” The point is that more families are navigating these decisions than ever, often under time pressure, and they deserve clear language for the options.
If your family chooses cremation, you will quickly run into the practical questions that follow: what to do with ashes, how to talk about keeping ashes at home, and whether you want one central memorial or a shared plan. Funeral.com’s guide on what to do with ashes walks through common paths in a humane way. If your family wants a home memorial, the guide to keeping ashes at home helps you think about safety, placement, and household comfort without adding guilt or pressure.
And if you’re selecting an urn, the categories matter more than families expect. A long-term home urn is different from a scattering container, and it’s different again from an urn meant for water burial. If you want a broad starting point for options, you can browse cremation urns for ashes, then narrow based on what your plan actually is. If your plan involves sharing a portion among siblings or adult children, small cremation urns and keepsake urns are designed for that exact need—without making the family improvise with containers that weren’t built for secure closure.
Water Burial and Burial at Sea: A Quick Reality Check
Texas families sometimes ask about a water ceremony even when they’re planning a land burial, especially if the person had a strong connection to the Gulf, a lake, or the ocean. The key is to distinguish “a symbolic shoreline moment” from an actual burial at sea. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency explains the federal framework for burial at sea under the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act, and the federal rule at 40 CFR 229.1 includes the commonly cited “no closer than three nautical miles from land” requirement for cremated remains. Practical planning is the goal here: if you want a water ceremony, choose an urn designed for it and understand what the rule actually requires. Funeral.com’s guide to water burial explains how families plan the moment without getting trapped in vague internet advice.
If you are honoring a pet, it’s also important to understand that the EPA’s burial-at-sea framework is specific to human remains; the EPA explicitly notes that the general permit does not authorize pet or non-human remains for burial at sea. If your family wants ocean symbolism for a pet, many people choose a shore-based ceremony paired with a home memorial using pet urns for ashes rather than a literal release into ocean waters.
Pet Loss and Green-Minded Memorialization
One of the reasons Eloise Woods stands out is that it recognizes how real pet grief is. The Texas Green Network’s member listing for Eloise Woods Community Burial Park describes it as a woodland burial park for people and pets, and Eloise Woods’ own materials reflect the same intent. For families, this matters because pet loss often arrives without the social scaffolding that surrounds human funerals. People still want a dignified place, a ritual, a marker, and a way to remember—without being made to feel like they’re “overreacting.”
If your pet is cremated and your family wants a home memorial, choosing a container that matches the amount of ashes and the style of remembrance can make a surprisingly large emotional difference. Funeral.com’s pet urns for ashes guide is a practical place to start, and many families find comfort in options that feel personal rather than generic—like pet figurine cremation urns or pet keepsake cremation urns when multiple people want a small portion nearby.
Cost, Simplicity, and the Quiet Math Families Are Doing
For many families, the deciding factor is not ideology. It’s the desire to do something honest and affordable. National cost averages don’t tell you what you’ll pay in Bastrop County or the Austin area, but they do help families understand why totals vary and what “typical” can mean. On the NFDA statistics page, NFDA reports a 2023 national median cost of $6,280 for a funeral with cremation (including viewing and service) and $8,300 for a funeral with viewing and burial. Those are medians, not promises—but they show why families increasingly ask, plainly and understandably, how much does cremation cost and what a simpler burial might look like in real life.
If your family is comparing cremation options, Funeral.com’s 2025 guide on how much does cremation cost breaks down common fees and the difference between direct cremation and cremation with services. Even if you ultimately choose natural burial, understanding cremation costs helps families make confident choices when relatives disagree or budgets are tight. It turns “I feel like we should…” into “Here’s what it would actually cost, and here’s what we can do within that.”
Funeral Planning That Doesn’t Feel Overwhelming
Whether you choose natural burial or cremation, the gentlest form of funeral planning is writing down what matters before you’re under pressure. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. It can be a one-page statement: where you want to be buried (or whether you want cremation), whether embalming is acceptable, what kind of ceremony you want, who should be contacted, and what you want to happen afterward (including the plan for ashes if cremation is chosen). If you want a steady, practical place to start, Funeral.com’s end-of-life planning checklist and its guide on planning a funeral are designed to reduce confusion, not add tasks.
And if your plan includes cremation, writing down what you want done with cremated remains prevents one of the most common family conflicts: a loved one comes home in a temporary container, and everyone assumes someone else knows the plan. That’s when families scramble to choose cremation urns, debate whether to keep ashes at home, and argue about scattering in a place that matters. A simple note—“keep at home,” “inter in a cemetery,” “scatter later when everyone can be present,” or “use cremation jewelry as a small keepsake”—can save real emotional pain.
If your family is exploring memorial jewelry, the most practical place to begin is understanding how it works: what gets sealed, what gets filled, and what “secure” means in everyday life. Funeral.com’s cremation jewelry guide and its collection of cremation necklaces can help you compare options without guessing.
A Final Thought for Families Choosing Eloise Woods
Natural burial can feel like a return to something older and steadier: care without chemicals, a body returned to the earth, a memorial that doesn’t try to dominate the landscape. Eloise Woods puts that philosophy into written rules, which is exactly what grieving families need—clarity that removes pressure. If you’re considering it, start by reading the cemetery’s FAQ and rules, then make the call that confirms today’s pricing, scheduling, and the process your family will follow. The goal is not perfection. The goal is a goodbye that feels honest, practical, and aligned with the person you’re honoring.
And if your family is still weighing options—natural burial, cremation, a cemetery interment of cremated remains, or a combination plan—remember this: you don’t have to decide everything in the first conversation. The best decisions usually come when families have enough information to exhale. A clear set of guidelines, a realistic timeline, and a calm plan for the memorial details—whether that’s an earth-friendly burial or choosing pet cremation urns, cremation urns for ashes, or a small keepsake—can turn a difficult week into something gentler and more grounded.
