Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, hours and eligibility

Tahoma National Cemetery, at 18600 SE 240th Street in Kent, is open to visitors from 6 a.m., and its gates close between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. depending on daylight, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs as of October 2026. By a routing service built on OpenStreetMap data it is about 17 miles from Enumclaw, roughly half an hour without traffic. The cemetery office, 425-413-9614, is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Veterans Day, Wednesday, November 11, 2026, included. Burial is open to veterans who met a minimum active duty service requirement and did not leave service under dishonorable conditions, and to some family members; the VA decides each case.

The VA's history page puts the founding on a Veterans Day: the cemetery was established on November 11, 1993. Its first burials did not come until October 1, 1997, with a dedication on September 26 of that year. Since then two expansions, one finished in 2006 and one in 2014, have added over 12,000 and over 14,000 columbarium niches, the small compartments that hold urns of cremated remains. By the VA's page, the cemetery has its own volunteers, its own honor guard and space left for both casketed and cremated remains.

What are the hours at Tahoma National Cemetery?

The VA says the gates operate automatically, opening at 6 a.m. and closing between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., "depending on hours of daylight." The page does not say which closing hour applies on a given date, so in the short days of November and December a visitor should plan on the early end and call the office to confirm. The office has its own hours, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the VA says it is "Closed federal holidays except Memorial Day and Veterans Day." That means it is open on Veterans Day in 2026 and closed on Thanksgiving, November 26.

The VA's national alerts page, read October 28, 2026, said all VA national cemeteries were open for burial and visitation, and it listed an alert for one cemetery in Arkansas, none for Tahoma. Those hours and alerts are the VA's to change, and they are posted on the cemetery's page at cem.va.gov.

How far is Tahoma National Cemetery from Enumclaw?

It is roughly 17 miles by road, and about 30 minutes when traffic is light, from Enumclaw City Hall to the cemetery's public information center, by the OpenStreetMap-based routing service the figures come from. Treat both numbers as approximate, since traffic and the route you choose will change them.

A bus is harder. The site's guide to getting from Enumclaw to Seattle by bus and train covers the Metro 915 route to Auburn Station and the Sounder from there, but not the last stretch to the cemetery, and this page did not check whether a transit route reaches its gate.

Who can be buried at Tahoma National Cemetery?

By the VA's own eligibility page, the basic test is one of four. The person is a veteran who did not receive a dishonorable discharge. Or a service member who died on active duty or in training. Or a veteran's spouse or surviving spouse, remarried or not. Or the veteran's minor child, even if the veteran died first, and in some cases an unmarried adult dependent child.

The page then gives separate rules for several groups, including National Guard and Reserve members, ROTC members, certain Public Health Service and NOAA officers, World War II merchant mariners and Philippine armed forces veterans. It also lists who is not eligible: a former spouse whose marriage to the veteran ended in divorce or annulment, someone who was drafted but never entered service, and veterans with certain convictions. A veteran with an other than honorable, bad conduct or similar discharge may still qualify, because a VA regional office decides those cases and the page points to a discharge upgrade or a character of discharge review.

None of this settles any one person's case. Only the VA can do that, and the cemetery page itself says to request eligibility status from the VA.

How do you check eligibility before you need it?

The VA calls it a pre-need determination of eligibility, a ruling made in advance so a family is not sorting out paperwork in the days after a death. The VA's pre-need page says to apply online, or on paper with VA Form 40-10007 by mail to the NCA Evidence Intake Center in Janesville, Wisconsin (PO Box 5237), or by fax. The VA asks for the applicant's personal information, military history and preferred national cemetery, and a copy of the DD214, the discharge document, speeds things up. Without one, the page says, the VA will try to find the records itself.

One line there matters for Tahoma in particular: "We can't guarantee that you'll be buried in your preferred cemetery." If the cemetery is full or unavailable at the time of need, the VA says it helps the family choose another with space. Tahoma's own page says it has space for both casketed and cremated remains. The pre-need route is only for a person still living or planning ahead; once someone has died, the family schedules a burial, which the cemetery page says begins with faxing the discharge papers to the scheduling office, 1-866-900-6417, and then phoning 1-800-535-1117.

Can you leave flowers at Tahoma National Cemetery?

Under the VA's floral policy for Tahoma, natural cut flowers are welcome on graves all year, and the cemetery clears them when they wither or when mowing and other work requires it. Artificial flowers are allowed, as a general rule, for the 10 days before and the 10 days after both Easter Sunday and Memorial Day. Seasonal items such as Christmas wreaths and grave blankets are allowed from December 1 to January 20, but the VA says they cannot be fastened to a headstone or marker.

Permanent plantings, statues, vigil lights and breakable objects are not permitted, and the VA bars items it considers offensive or hazardous, noting that beads or wires can tangle in mowers. Anything permanent that is removed is held for a month before disposal. The VA also bars firearms, explosives and other dangerous weapons from its property, with an exception for official uses such as the honors given at military funerals. The cemetery page cites 38 CFR 1.218 for the rule.

What is on the grounds?

Visitors report to a public information center that the VA says is staffed entirely by volunteers. They answer questions and work with cemetery staff on funeral corteges and on guiding each family to the right committal shelter. The VA says a Veterans Service Organization Honor Guard Association, drawn from groups including the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Disabled American Veterans, provides military honors at about 90 percent of the burials.

A memorial walkway holds 36 memorials to soldiers of 20th century wars, donated by service organizations, and a carillon, installed in 2010, was donated by a Seattle branch of the Navy Fleet Reserve Association and dedicated to the cemetery's volunteers. A Blue Star Memorial stands south of the information center. The 2014 expansion added two memorial walls and an ossuary, plus 6,000 garden sites in the ground for cremated remains. Of the view, the VA's page says that from the flag assembly area looking south, "Mt. Rainier is ever present."

What does Tahoma National Cemetery share with Enumclaw?

The mountain in that sentence is the same one Enumclaw lives under, and the site has a guide to the best places to see Mount Rainier from Enumclaw. This site's piece on the oldest things still open in Enumclaw notes that a Legion hall on Wells Street became the town's movie house at the end of 1949. The American Legion is one of the groups the VA names in Tahoma's honor guard association, though the VA's page does not say which posts take part or whether any are from the plateau.

Is there a Veterans Day ceremony at Tahoma National Cemetery?

The cemetery's VA page, read October 28, 2026, lists no Veterans Day ceremony, so this guide names none. The national observance is at Arlington National Cemetery on November 11 at 11 a.m. Eastern time, VA News says, and the same page lists 48 VA-approved regional sites in 24 states, among them the City of Auburn, Washington, without giving a time or place. VA's events calendar is where it points readers for ceremonies near them. For Tahoma, the person to ask is the cemetery office at 425-413-9614, or the cemetery's Facebook page.

Before you go

Check the hours and any alert on the cemetery's VA page, last updated September 18, 2026 when it was read, and call the office if the day matters. The Enumclaw library is closed all day on Veterans Day, per this site's guide to Enumclaw Library hours and closures, so plan any errand around it. Check the daylight, because the gates may close early in winter, and follow the posted rules, which the VA says are visible on the grounds.

A cemetery visit can be heavy for the person making it. The VA page lists the Veterans Crisis Line, reached by calling 988 and pressing 1.