There is ample parking available and due to the size of the cemetery/park a shuttle bus is used. There is a $10 donation requested with children under 12 free.
Tours & Events
Jun 18, 2026
This is an updated version of last year's walking tour through the historic heart of The Vale with the Cemetery's office administrator, Paula Lemire. Based on the 1857 landscape map of Vale, this walk will explore the paths, hidden vaults, and history of the Cemetery's namesake ravine.
This is a walking-only tour (no shuttle) on gravel paths. Please wear appropriate footwear and bug spray is recommended.
Tickets are $10 each, free for Vale Cemetery Preservation, Inc. members. Tickets will be available soon. If you plan to pay at the tour, you must RSVP by email because this tour sold out last fall.
Jun 19, 2026
Vale Cemetery will once again host a Juneteenth celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States on June 19 from 3 to 6:00 pm.
The annual celebration is held in the historic African American Ancestral Burial Ground section of Vale. This area holds the final resting places of formerly enslaved freedom seekers who made Schenectady their home, Civil War veterans, abolitionists, and individuals whose graves were located from an older African-American burial ground on Veeder Avenue near State Street.
The event will include a libations ceremony, African drumming, a Negro spiritual performance, poetry reading, a headstone preservation demonstration, and an ice cream social with ice cream courtesy of Stewart’s. This year, attendees are also encouraged to bring their own picnic in keeping with the historic tradition of families picnicking in rural cemeteries like Vale.
Cohosted by Vale Cemetery, the Hamilton Hill Arts Center, and Community Father’s Inc., this event is free and open to the public.
For more information: https://www.facebook.com/share/17spEg3ksU/