Adaptive Hiking Trails
  • Home
  • Trail Network
  • Submit your Trail
    • Tips on Describing a Trail
  • Our Kind of Trails
    • Obstacles
    • Federal Trail Standards
    • Adaptive hiking gear
  • About Us
    • Our mission
    • Sponsors and Grantors
    • Directors
    • Contact
  • Donate
Trail Access Project's

Adaptive Hiking
​By you and your adaptive hiking community



​

Picture
Join us for adaptive hiking at Springs Preserve, March 25

Photos from our recent Adaptive Hiking Events
Picture


Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve

Picture
Desert National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada
Picture

​


Wetlands Park, Clark County, Nevada

Picture












​Historic Railroad Trail, Lake Mead


What is Adaptive Hiking?

Adaptive hiking is the enjoyment of trails by people with disabilities through improvising techniques.  Techniques include personal assistance and/or adaptive equipment such as manual wheelchairs, powerchairs, handcycles, rollators, walkers, canes, crutches, or white canes--whatever works best for us individually to enjoy being outdoors on a trail.  That's what Trail Access Project is all about.

Adaptive Hiking Trails

Adaptive hiking trails are any hiking trails that have characteristics that allow individuals with a physical disability to enjoy them. These characteristics relate to grade, cross slope  (sideways inclination of the surface), surface firmness, and any obstacles, such as rocks, roots, or steps. Adaptive hiking trails may be natural-surface pedestrian paths, multi-use greenways, paved bike paths, remote backcountry trails, or what are typically called "wheelchair accessible trails".

In our Adaptive Hiking Trails project we want to provide trail characteristics related to accessibility so that you can decide for yourself whether a trail is suitable for your personal strengths, interests, and safety. We especially want to find backcountry trails, those that take us further away from the crowds.
​

Accessibility of a trail is very personal because each of us have different strengths and adaptive equipment. We don't rely on terms like "accessible", "ADA", or "Wheelchair accessible" trail because what is accessible to you may not be accessible to me. For example, the video above shows that there are many kinds of wheelchairs, some built especially to more rugged trails.
  • Home
  • Trail Network
  • Submit your Trail
    • Tips on Describing a Trail
  • Our Kind of Trails
    • Obstacles
    • Federal Trail Standards
    • Adaptive hiking gear
  • About Us
    • Our mission
    • Sponsors and Grantors
    • Directors
    • Contact
  • Donate