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Accessible RV Checklist
Access Travel Rights
Handicapped Travel Club
Rolling Down The Trail
Family RVing
Schooling Options for RVers
Kartchner Caverns State Park
Oscar Scherer State Park
10 RVing Tips for Newbies
The Accessible RV Site
Riding The Rails
The Enabled RVer Resources
Access Travel Guides
Selecting a Cane for Travel
Fulltime RVing Challenges
Campground Access
HTC Accessible Park List
Arizona Day Drive
Touring Arizona
Columbia River Region
RVing with Kids
Volunteering and RVing
RVing and Children
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| About Accessible Park Trails |
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| Rolling Down The Trail by Tim Schweitzer My family and I love to take walks down quiet trails and get away from the noise and rush of daily life. It requires a bit of effort on our part to find places where the rhythm of life is not driven by time clocks and machines. It requires even more effort to find these places due to the fact that my daughter is in a wheelchair. Thanks in part to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the increasing awareness of the public, wilderness trails are becoming more accessible to wheelchairs. There are two basic types of wilderness trails: developed and undeveloped. Undeveloped trails are generally nothing more than footpaths and are not wheelchair accessible. The developed trail has three distinct types and each have their advantages and disadvantages and varying degrees of accessibility. By far, the most wheelchair friendly of these is the paved trail. This type is normally made of concrete, asphalt or other permanent material. They are “sidewalks” taken out into the woods. This type of trail is most commonly used for short distances; city and state parks, around a small lake, a “nature walk”, within campgrounds, and as access to and from facilities. The use of this type of trail in “wilderness” areas is not common. Paved trails are expensive to construct and maintain, and are environmentally destructive. The paved trail, although easily navigated in a wheelchair, is not the only answer to providing access to wilderness areas. The second type of trail is an elevated walkway, usually constructed of wood. This type resembles a “deck” built onto a house. These trails are most commonly used in areas where either the trail needs to go over something, such as marshland or a small creek, or it is built above the environment in order to protect it from damage. These “walkways” are wonderful ways to provide everyone access to environmentally sensitive areas, with minimal negative impact. Unfortunately this type of trail is extremely costly to build and maintain, as well as environmentally sensitive due to the heavy use of wood in their construction. They provide excellent access to sensitive and difficult areas, but have very limited use for trails in general. The last type of developed trail is the “improved” footpath. These are most commonly constructed with materials from the immediate environment; wood shavings (mulch), gravel, crushed shell, and pine needles are frequently used as bedding. The trail itself needs to be graded and widened before the bedding is put down. In some cases, wooden sides are laid down to prevent the trail from washing out. These trails are the most common in longer distance trails in true wilderness areas. They are the easiest to construct, but they do require constant maintenance. Unless they are carefully maintained, they can become impassable to wheelchair users in a matter of days. This type of trail is also prone to erosion and may become environmentally destructive because of this. The “improved” footpath is probably the best hope that wheelchair users have of gaining true access to wilderness areas. The National Park Service is looking at ways to “harden” natural surfaces, thereby preventing erosion and cutting down on the cost of maintenance. My family and I have enjoyed the benefits of each of these types of trails. A combination of all three of them can provide wheelchair users access to nearly any type of wilderness area. The ADA is currently examining the issue of providing access to trails in the same manner that access has been provided to buildings and other facilities. Given time, awareness and effort, there is no reason that most wilderness areas cannot be made wheelchair accessible. We can’t help but leave our mark on the environment, but we can decide what that mark says about us. I hope it can say “we improved upon our world and made its beauty accessible to all of its inhabitants.” Reprinted with permission by Tim Schweitzer. Copyright ©2000-2002. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. |
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