Incredibly, after a detailed search, I haven’t found a single overnight walk anywhere in the world that is promoted as accessible for people who use a wheelchair. Yet there are plenty of people with disabilities exploring wild places, so why is there such a big disconnect?
I think it comes down to information provision. Tracks do exist for people with mobility restrictions to go adventuring, camping and overnight bushwalking. Sure, there will be a number of obstacles and barriers to overcome, but knowing exactly what they are and where are the first steps to designing strategies to overcome them (e.g. ducking underneath a gate, bringing enough people on the walk to help you up a few steps). We just need to find a way to share that information so that more people can get out into amazing wild places.
The National Parks Association of NSW (NPA) is thrilled to introduce a new project “Naturally Accessible”. It’s about improving access to natural places with better information. We think this will not only help our older members continue bushwalking for many years to come, but it will also prove to have enormous benefits to the broader community such as people in wheelchairs, parents with prams, and others.
Traditionally, accessibility issues have been solved with infrastructure. That means going in and concreting or boarding over all natural barriers and creating smooth, short
tracks. Of course, the advantage of these tracks are that literally anyone can do them, but the disadvantages are that these tracks are expensive and slow to develop, and substantial infrastructure fails to connect the user with nature.
Hence, in NSW, the types of accessible walks that we have are all extremely short, taking users only a few minutes to complete. We don’t think that this is a fulfilling way to access natural places, and we believe we can do better.
We want to turn the idea of accessibility on its head and give back the choice to the user to decide whether a track is suitable for them or not. Information-based solutions address the needs of a range of people. For instance, people with heart conditions need flatter walks, and others need seats at regular intervals. We give choice by providing information on barriers and facilities, integrated with online bushwalking sources like Wildwalks. Information-based solutions are an alternative to going in and concreting everything, and sit well with the NPA's ethic of minimal impact bushwalking.
Let’s take Frank as an example. Frank had a stroke last year which left him weakened on one side of his body. Now he uses a crutch to get around. He still loves getting out bushwalking with the family but needs to rest frequently along the track. Therefore, a walk with regular seats is important for him. So a good solution for Frank is track notes with information about the frequency and type of
Bushwalk
