On Saturday, September 13, a 900-foot long wheelchair accessible boardwalk and path along the Ottauquechee River in eastern Vermont was opened to the public. The really neat thing is that this new facility is part of the renowned Appalachian National Scenic Trail (AT), which extends 2,175 miles through 14 states from Maine to Georgia. The AT is a unit of the National Park System.
The boardwalk extends over the Ottauquechee River flood plain near the small town of Killington (pop. 1,095) and not far from the famous ski resort of the same name. A gravel path that links to the boardwalk passes through woods and leads to the base of Thundering Falls, where a platform offers spectacular views of the falls and the floodplain.
This “new and improved” trail section was three years in the making. The venerable (established 1910) Green Mountain Club worked hard this summer to finish the project, which was conceptualized not as a wheelchair accessible facility per se, but as a relocation of the Thundering Brook Road stretch of the AT away from the road and into the scenic landscape.
The Ottauquechee River (pronounced AWT-ah-KWEE-chee), a 40-mile long tributary of the Connecticut River, is heavy on scenic quality. You might recall that this is the very same river that flows through Woodstock, Vermont, a famously picturesque community that is considered one of the prettiest small towns in America.
The new section of the AT is the first in Vermont to be designed for wheelchair accessibility. It is the fourth such segment, however, on the AT. The others designed for accessibility are located in Falls Village, Connecticut, at Pochuck Creek in Vernon, New Jersey, and at Osborne Farm near Shady Valley, Tennessee.
A fifth wheelchair accessible AT segment is under construction at Bear Mountain State Park near West Point, New York.
Facilities like these highlight the continuing progress in accessibility that has been made in the nearly two decades since passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a 1990 law designed to reduce – and, where possible, eliminate -- barriers to people with disabilities. Making more of the great outdoors (including national parks) accessible to people with disabilities is a key element of this nationwide push.
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I was looking on line for accessible trails and found a site where it says there are only about 3 miles of accessible miles out of the 2,178 miles of the Appalachian trail. Our son had the misfortune of being born disabled and has spent 17 years in a wheelchair. During the years my husband was in the military we lived in a variety of states and did a lot of exploring. Some places were accessible...some probably weren't overly accessible but we tried it out anyways. Was a bit rough on the wheelchair but we enjoyed it. We are taking our first vacation in almost 6 years and thought we would stop off at the part of the trail in TN that is accessible...it's .7 miles..so just over a mile round trip. How does that hurt all the able bodied people that can go wherever they want? They still have 2,175 miles to explore that we and our son will never be able to see. Maybe it's one of those "you have to be there" as in you have to be disabled or have a disabled family member to get a different perspective.
It is a shame that Maryland is still trying to compensate for some shortage done to hikers like him. I came on here to respond to his comments from the disabled propective, as my name implies, I have a stump for a leg due to an illness when I was 49. So I have a few years behind me and I have now been "disabled" for almost 10 years.
First, I wonder if he noticed the link near the bottom of this comment box, where I can disable the rich text. Will I only get to type short words? or use just a protion of the alloted space? NO, I should be allowed to use all the space like anyone else, and say whatever I wish to (if I can type and spell).
Next, accept the fact that the disabled are a part of OUR society, equally. We pay taxes, we work, and we wish to recreate like everyone else. That is what the 1991 American's with Disabilities Act promisies. Yet now in 2011, we are still waiting, what gives? In fact the UTAP, Universal Trail Assesment Program, designates what the conditions are on any trail so that hikers of all abilities can see their limitations, a novel approach that should be tried with some other opportunities.
Finally, with the H/C Parking, not all disabilities are visable, really, and who are we to judge. I spent time in a wheelchair and I hated it, the view was always the same, nothing but...butts. At least on a nice accessible trail (I can see clearly now the rain is gone), there are no obstacles in my way...
Now can anyone explain why I had to type in these two words? It fits me so well.
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you are missing the point. hikers of all abilities want to experience the wilderness. its not to take anything away from you, but to open a world to them. enough of the daily world is inaccessible and everyone deserves to feel away from it all and be immersed in nature. Regardless of their physical abilities or injuries. Being married to a retired marine who used to hike for days and now needs a wheelchair after injuries in Afghanistan, this is barely enough. I wish these trails were miles and miles long.