Scattering Ashes: A Journey Back to the Wild and Sacred
Choosing where and how to scatter a loved one’s ashes is a deeply personal journey:
It’s a final act of love that returns their spirit to the natural world they cherished. At BONAVENTURE, we guide families through every step of destination ash scattering with reverence and care, offering meaningful ceremonies in National Parks, private lands, mountains, waterscapes, and symbolic migration sites.
Whether you seek national park ash scattering with official permits, private property blessings, or ocean scatterings that honor the tides, our expert team handles all logistics, permits, and details so your family can focus on healing and remembrance. Discover the beauty, legality, and lasting peace of scattering ashes in nature’s most sacred places.
🌿 See Available National Park Destinations →
📞 Speak to a Memorial Specialist: (515) 206-4845
bonaventurememorial@gmail.com
Scattering Ashes in National Parks:
Scattering cremated remains in a national park offers families a sacred, timeless way to honor loved ones who cherished the wilderness. National park ash scattering is allowed with permits and specific guidelines to protect natural resources. BONAVENTURE manages all the details — from securing Special Use Permits to selecting remote, permitted locations for your loved one’s final farewell. Explore iconic parks like Yellowstone, Zion, and Mount Rainier where your loved one’s ashes can become part of the wild landscape forever.
1. National Parks and Nature Reserves
For those who found life’s breath beneath open skies and ancient trees.
To scatter ashes in a national park is to send a loved one home—to the wild heart of a land preserved through time. Here, beneath soaring peaks, beside bubbling geysers, or along windswept desert cliffs, the earth holds memories eternal and sacred.
Where can ashes be scattered in National Parks?
The National Park Service (NPS) gently opens its arms to this final offering—yet with care, rules, and reverence. Each park’s unique guardianship protects the fragile balance of nature and culture.
Ashes must be scattered quietly—never buried or left in containers.
Stay at least 100 yards from water, trails, or buildings.
No markers remain behind; the land remembers without words.
Ashes must be finely sifted, merging seamlessly with soil and stone.
Explore the NPS Official Policy on Scattering Ashes and learn about the Permit to Scatter.
Permit process
Though many parks require a Special Use Permit, most are straightforward and low cost, ensuring your farewell honors both nature’s laws and human intention.
BONAVENTURE’s Promise:
We carry this burden for you—handling permits, scouting the perfect spot, and coordinating with park stewards so your family can simply feel the peace of the moment. Each scattering is a quiet ceremony, a solitary embrace between your loved one and the wild.
Featured National Park Destinations
Yellowstone National Park — The earth’s pulse beneath geysers and ancient forests.
Zion National Park — Red cliffs lit by endless sun, a desert sanctuary.
Glacier National Park — The Crown of the Continent, where glaciers whisper stories of ice and time.
Mount Rainier National Park — Towering glaciers, wildflower meadows, and the mountain’s enduring spirit.
Badlands National Park — Ancient stone folds, quiet places of reflection and return.
America the Beautiful Package — A trio of parks to honor those who roamed far and wide.
Practical Notes for Anyone Thinking About Scattering Ashes in National Parks
No permanent markers—only a handcrafted memorial plaque for your home.
Ashes scatter at least 100 yards from water, roads, and trails.
Biodegradable containers ensure a gentle return to the earth.
Timing aligns with the rhythms of the land and season.
Safe Shipping for National Park Scatterings
Use the USPS Cremated Remains Kit #2 for secure, compliant transport. Order your free kit here:
USPS Cremated Remains Kit #2
Ship early, allowing time for transit and permits.
With BONAVENTURE, families receive:
A respectful, private scattering ceremony in a National Park
A memorial plaque engraved with name, dates, and GPS coordinates
Seasonal photos or maps of the scattering site
Full handling of permits and shipping logistics
Optional keepsake portion of ashes enclosed within the plaque
More resources:
Let the ending be beautiful.
For those who breathed with the wild—who walked beneath ancient canopies and over stone trails—there is no better farewell than a final resting place held in perpetuity by the earth. BONAVENTURE guides this sacred return with care, grace, and reverence.
Explore National Park Packages → https://www.destinationspreading.com/
🌿 See Available National Park Destinations →
📞 Speak to a Memorial Specialist: (515) 206-4845
bonaventurememorial@gmail.com
Scattering Ashes on Private Land: Intimate, Personal, and Fully Legal
Many families choose to scatter ashes on private property or family land — a deeply personal way to honor a loved one’s roots and legacy. With the landowner’s permission, private land ash scattering offers peace and connection in familiar surroundings. BONAVENTURE provides guidance on considerations such as discreet marking and future property changes to ensure your ceremony respects both the past and the land’s future.
2. Family Property or Private Land
For those who belonged to a place—and whose roots run deep there.
Sometimes, home is the land itself—the childhood yard, a family farm, the patch of earth where stories grew. Scattering ashes here is a whisper of belonging, a circle closed with peace.
Practical thoughts:
Always seek permission from the landowner.
Consider the future—if the property may change hands, keep a quiet record of the sacred spot.
Mountain and Wilderness Ash Scattering: Adventure and Solace in Remote Places
For those who found joy in climbing peaks or wandering forests, scattering ashes in mountains or wilderness areas reflects a life lived in harmony with nature’s grandeur. While forest and wilderness ash scattering requires careful legal navigation—since national forests often restrict scattering—BONAVENTURE selects accessible, permitted sites in places like Devils Tower, Olympic National Park, and the Grand Tetons.
3. Mountains, Forests, and Remote Wilderness
For those who sought solace in the trees, found freedom on the heights.
Ashes scattered on mountaintops or beneath ancient firs honor a spirit lifted by elevation and quiet. These wild places are sanctuaries of stillness, where the earth itself seems to breathe deeper.
BONAVENTURE Destinations:
Note: National forests generally do not permit scattering, so we ensure each site is legally and lovingly chosen.
Water Ash Scattering: Honoring a Spirit Carried by Ocean, Lake, or River
Ash scattering on water embodies freedom and release—whether on oceans, lakes, or serene waterways. Water ash scattering is regulated by the EPA and requires scattering at least three nautical miles from shore. BONAVENTURE offers eco-conscious, fully compliant water scattering ceremonies at breathtaking destinations including the Bioluminescent Shores of Puget Sound, Hawaii, and the Pensacola Dolphin Coast.
4. Oceans, Lakes, and Waterways
For those whose hearts beat with the rhythm of waves and tides.
Water’s embrace is eternal—whether ashes drift into the glowing bioluminescence of Puget Sound, the sunset-kissed shores of Pensacola, or the warm currents off Hawaii’s coast. Here, release and freedom become one.
🌿 See Available National Park Destinations →
📞 Speak to a Memorial Specialist: (515) 206-4845
bonaventurememorial@gmail.com
BONAVENTURE Water Destinations:
Important: The EPA requires sea scatterings to be at least 3 nautical miles offshore, reported within 30 days. Learn more:
BONAVENTURE handles every federal guideline and arranges unaccompanied boat ceremonies.
Symbolic Ash Scattering Destinations: Migrations, Flights, and Stories of Freedom
For those who wished to be part of nature’s grand cycles, scattering ashes at symbolic migration sites or over soaring birds creates a poetic, meaningful farewell. BONAVENTURE’s exclusive packages include scattering among monarch butterflies, sandhill cranes, and even from a hot air balloon. These symbolic ash scattering experiences celebrate transformation and eternal return with grace and wonder.
5. Symbolic Destinations and Migrations
For those who lived with meaning and wished to end among nature’s grand cycles.
Scatter ashes where monarch butterflies migrate, beneath the flight of sandhill cranes, or over the drifting glow of a hot air balloon. These places tell stories of transformation, freedom, and endless return.
Exclusive BONAVENTURE Experiences:
Plan ahead: Seasonal and weather conditions guide availability. BONAVENTURE manages all details, even if your family cannot be present.
How to Ship Ashes Safely for Scattering Ceremonies
Safe, legal shipping of cremated remains is critical for destination ash scattering. BONAVENTURE recommends the USPS Cremated Remains Kit #2, designed for secure, compliant transport via Priority Mail Express. We provide step-by-step instructions, pre-paid labels, and full tracking so your loved one’s ashes arrive safely and on time for their ceremony.
For families entrusting BONAVENTURE’s unaccompanied scattering, we provide detailed instructions and tracking every step of the way. Use Priority Mail Express with the USPS Cremated Remains Kit #2.
Order your free kit → USPS Cremated Remains Kit #2
Why Choose Destination Ash Scattering? Healing, Legacy, and Connection
Destination ash scattering is a deeply healing ritual that connects families to nature, honors the unique life lived, and creates a living memorial woven into earth, water, or sky. Unlike traditional burials or urns, scattering ashes in a meaningful place offers solace, renewal, and celebration—turning goodbye into an eternal journey.
Choose a Place That Feels Like Them
Whether a mountain’s peak, a sunlit shore, or a family field touched by the Midwest wind—the right place echoes their spirit and story. BONAVENTURE makes scattering ashes a journey of beauty, reverence, and care, no matter the miles or memories.
If life is a story, let the ending be beautiful.
Explore all BONAVENTURE Destinations → https://www.destinationspreading.com/
Contact us anytime → bonaventurememorial@gmail.com
Navigating Permits and Regulations
Many sacred places require permits to protect their wildness:
National Parks need Special Use Permits and restrict locations.
Waterways often require Coast Guard or local permissions.
Local laws vary for public or private land scattering.
BONAVENTURE partners with you to navigate these with ease, ensuring every scattering honors the land and law alike.
Why Choose Destination Scattering?
A Celebration of Life
Far from sorrow alone, scattering in nature opens a window to peace, joy, and renewal.
A Living Memorial
No cold stone, but earth and sky—a place where your loved one’s story lives in the wind, the water, the wild.
Healing Through Nature
The quiet, the breeze, the ritual—nature’s embrace helps hearts mend.
A Unique Tribute
Tailored to the passions, the travels, the favorite places that defined a life.
Closing Reflection:
Destination scattering is more than farewell—it’s a return, a blessing, a continuation. With BONAVENTURE, your loved one’s spirit finds home again—in mountains, seas, skies, and quiet forests—carried in your heart and cradled by the earth forever.
