A version of the following article appeared in the Wednesday, August 26, 2026, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C.
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Kings Mountain Preserve offers an environmentally conscious place for burial
Look closely: On Kings Mountain Preserve, the green markers indicate a burial site. The red flag marks an upcoming one. (Photo by Cooper Hall/The Charlotte Ledger)
by Cooper Hall
At first glance, Kings Mountain Preserve looks like a typical nature preserve, with dense forests, dirt trails and a rushing stream. But the preserve, about an hour outside of Charlotte, holds much more than trees.
Kings Mountain Preserve serves as a green burial cemetery, an environmentally friendly process of burial in which bodies are not embalmed and are buried in a biodegradable shroud or casket. If a person chooses to be cremated, ashes are either buried in a biodegradable urn or mixed with a soil amendment and put directly in the ground. Graves are dug by hand, 3 feet deep, and headstones are small, flat rocks engraved with names.
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