South Hills • Eugene, Oregon • Est. 1889
The lower parcel of Mt. Calvary Catholic Cemetery is a living part of our neighborhood — a forested wildlife corridor with a year-round creek, an open meadow, and trails that have connected the South Hills community to each other and to the land since the 1950s.
Mt. Calvary is both a sacred resting place for families who have buried loved ones here, and a natural corridor that has served this neighborhood for generations. Both deserve our respect.
When visiting the cemetery grounds, keep noise low and give families privacy. In the undeveloped area, pack out everything you bring in, clean up after your pets, and stay on established trails. New paths cause erosion and damage the wildlife habitat that makes this place worth protecting.
The community's case for preserving this access rests on demonstrating that we use this land responsibly. Every person who treats this space well is making that case.
Tucked below the developed cemetery on Crest Drive, the lower 7.93 acres of Mt. Calvary is something rare in any city: a working riparian forest with a year-round creek, an open meadow, mature trees, and wildlife that includes deer, foxes, wild turkeys, and nesting birds of prey.
The meadow opens to big sky and a forest edge that changes with every season. The trails wind from the meadow into the trees, past the creek, and connect neighborhoods to each other in a way no street can replicate. Many who visit the cemetery find themselves staying — drawn further by birdsong and the quiet of the lower parcel.
eBird-confirmed hotspot. Birder Julie Parker has documented multiple raptor and migratory bird species here. The creek feeds directly into Amazon Creek — Eugene's second-largest waterway — and is part of the active restoration corridor managed by the Long Tom Watershed Council since 2014.
Established in 1889 and listed with the Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries, Mt. Calvary has been a quiet anchor of the Eugene community for more than 135 years. The developed cemetery — with its paved paths, views of Coburg Hills and Spencer Butte, sculptures, and memorial displays — is open to all, with public access gates on Mary Lane and Crest Drive.
Many who come to visit loved ones find themselves staying longer than expected. There is birdsong, the peace of the lower parcel, and the particular quiet that comes from a place where nature and remembrance coexist. A walk through the meadow and along the creek after visiting a grave is something South Hills families have done together for generations.
We are among the cemetery's most devoted informal stewards. Our neighbors have spent decades picking up limbs, reporting maintenance needs, and keeping a watchful eye over these grounds. That relationship is one we want to continue and deepen.
"It is a pleasure to know that for many years the community has enjoyed the use of Mt. Calvary Cemetery to experience God's creation in sacred space by visiting graves, quiet contemplation, walking, running, dog walking, and bird watching."— Daniel Serres, Director, Archdiocesan Catholic Cemeteries and Mortuaries
The creek flowing through the lower parcel runs year-round. It begins in the Treehouse neighborhood wetlands to the south, crosses the parcel, and flows underground to Amazon Creek — Eugene's second-largest waterway. It is a functioning riparian corridor supporting ferns, native plants, insects, birds, and mammals year-round.
The creek and the trees that shade it are what make this parcel a genuine urban wildlife corridor rather than simply an open field. It is the ecological heart of the land, and the reason this place supports the diversity of wildlife that our community has observed and documented for decades.
For 60+ years, South Hills residents have found something irreplaceable in the trails and natural spaces of the lower parcel. Here is what this place means to the people who know it best.
So healing to walk on this path — helps me to connect with spirit without getting in a car and driving anywhere.
A vital wildlife corridor and major deer habitat. Where I go to worship and commune with nature, and to respect the deceased.
Beautiful, peaceful, historic place to walk through. Current configuration and usage works well — why change what works for everyone?
Provides the safest walking connections to friends living west of the cemetery, and is a major wildlife corridor. Access to this path is very important to our whole community.
This may be the most inspirational natural space in South Eugene. Where else can you find a year-round creek, old trees, deer, and a meadow — all inside the city?
One neighbor has walked these trails 3 to 4 times a week for 58 years. Another has walked here for 45 years to visit family graves and connect with the neighborhood. Our mailing list now has over 115 community members — neighbors from across the South Hills united by a love of this place.
The trails through the lower parcel are connective tissue — linking South Hills neighborhoods to parks, schools, shops, and each other, safely off busy streets. The Eugene Trails Plan documents this corridor as part of the city's South Hills trail network.
Frederick Court through the lower field, up through the cemetery, and into the Wayne Morse Ranch Park trail hub — gateway to Eugene's broader trail network and Amazon Park.
Students from surrounding schools and neighborhoods use this safe, off-street route daily to access Wayne Morse Ranch Park. It is the kind of pedestrian connection that makes a neighborhood walkable.
The Olive Street entrance connects to W 34th Avenue, providing a walkable route to the Post Office and Willamette Street retail — used by neighbors for decades as an everyday connection.
Multiple entry points connect the deeper South Hills to the meadow and creek — routes that have been part of how this neighborhood moves since the 1950s.
Add your name to our mailing list. Support our work. We are a community organization working to ensure that the trails, wildlife habitat, and natural spaces of the lower parcel remain a part of South Hills life for generations to come.
Stay informed on developments and how you can help protect this place. We will never share your information with anyone.
The Friends of Mt. Calvary Cemetery is a formally organized community association working to permanently protect public access and wildlife habitat in the lower parcel. Your contribution supports our organizing, outreach, and advocacy efforts.
Contributions support the Friends of Mt. Calvary Cemetery.
An Oregon Unincorporated Nonprofit Association.
friendsofmtcalvary.org • Eugene, Oregon