Olmsted Woods
The Olmsted Woods are the last vestige of an extensive oak and beech forest on Mount St. Alban.  All Hallows Guild restored the five-acre Olmsted Woods over a 10-year period, completed in 2008 at a cost of nearly three million dollars.  Now the Woods include a stone footpath, the Pilgrim Way, a contemplative circle, native wildflowers and shrubs, and a host of migratory birds.

Amphitheater
The amphitheater has long figured in the Cathedral’s history, serving as a place for outdoor services in earlier days (see archival pictures). A functioning outdoor amphitheater was another part of Olmsted’s plan, and now, thanks to restoration, this beautiful outdoor space of curved stone walls and grass walkways is once again a perfect setting for worship, contemplation and performance.

Restoration of the Woods and Amphitheater
All Hallows Guild members Anne Elsbree and Anne (Dede) Petri have managed the three phases of the restoration project and led the successful effort to raise funds to pay for it. Water run-off has been channeled and invasive exotics removed.  An ecologically sound path winds up through the Olmsted Woods from Garfield Street to the George Washington statue, called the Pilgrim Way.  Landscape Architect Michael Vergason designed the amphitheater with the plantings of native trees, shrubs, and flowers that mirror the oak and beech woodland plantings in the surrounding Olmsted Woods

Additional Information:

“The Olmsted Woods & All Hallows Amphitheater” by Dede Neal Petri, January 2009

Woodswalks-Birdwalks Current Schedule

Click here to Be A Volunteer or a Docent in the Olmsted Woods

“On the Side of the Angels—Landscape architects restore the Olmsted Woods at the Washington National Cathedral”
Landscape Architecture, July 2006. Posted with permission.

"It All Started in a Garden" Herald, Spring 2009. The Dean's Remarks at Amphitheater Dedication, Page 4

“The Amphitheater - Then & Now" St. Albans Bulletin, Winter 2008, By Suzanne Miller