State Park Success Story! (Accessibility for one is Accessibility for All!)

I thought I'd start this blog series with a success story.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ensures that individuals with disabilities are not denied or excluded from activities, including outdoor recreation.

   Unfortunately in my short experiences with mobility challenges, I've discovered that positive experiences can be few and far between, especially when trying to enjoy the outdoors. When someone or someplace gets it right, I think they should be highlighted! So today I am highlighting Potato Creek State Park, located in North Liberty, Indiana.

   My husband and I have been campers for the last 20 years and are now on our second RV. With my decreased mobility, we have made some modifications to our current RV - such as removing the bottom bunk from the bunk area to use the space as a garage for my equipment. When camping or doing other outdoor activities, I prefer to use a portable four-wheel scooter that provides stability while increasing the variety of terrain I can travel. It is still limiting, but less so than my three-wheel electric mobile scooters.

   The four-wheel scooter I have is an older one, a Drive model that can disassemble into three components to make it easier to transport - a chair, the front section with steering column, and rear wheel section containing the motorized components (the heaviest part). The battery also is removable to help lighten the load. Individually, I can lift all of these parts, but I am only 5'2" so there are limits as to what I can safely handle. Fortunately I am blessed with a hubby who can not only lift the equipment without dismantling it, but has also designed several clever devices to enable me to function independently. (More on that in a future blog.)

   This particular trip was a long one that included both state and national parks. With the diversity of parks came the diversity in the interpretation of accessibility. Some parks were dismal failures, having ramps that started or ended with a stair, incorrectly installed ADA fire rings, campsites listed as ADA accessible (but were not really), a general lack of designated ADA parking, and a whole slew of other issues. While overall the trip was wonderful, some of the challenges were quite frustrating. No one should be frustrated and angry on their vacation!

   Potato Creek was our last stop on our route home. For this particular park, we didn't book an accessible campsite, but they are available. Indiana lists their ADA sites with descriptions and can be reserved via IndianaStateParks.reserveamerica.com. At the time of writing this post, there were no pictures of sites available on the website, but the descriptions were pretty good.

   We also didn't bother to look up accessibility for this park. Had I looked ahead of time, I might have been more excited about visiting the park!

To my surprise, there were well maintained paved trails!

Even better, there was beach accessibility!

REAL ACCESSIBILITY!

 

Not just disability parking, but ramps. ALL the way down to the water... with railings no less!

   I was able to drive my scooter right down to the water and for the first time in two years, I could swim in a lake. Yes, the railing ended at the water, so I had to use canes, but getting to the water itself was a huge deal. Scooters and wheelchairs simply don't do sand very well, if at all.

   The ramp was cement and contained a gap for the users to access the sandy beach as well as the cool water waiting at the end. It was clean and well maintained (no piles of drifting sand or other debris to try and navigate). I am also happy to say that the railings did not retain heat, so they could be easily used on the hot and sunny day of our visit.

   As if this wasn't enough, we discovered that accessibility wasn't just limited to the paved trails and the beach, but also included fishing piers and the boat rentals. A ramp extended down from the parking lot to the boat rentals, then down to the area where the boats were along the shore. A staff member was more than willing to give us a shove into the water and we were off kayaking! There were a number of different boats to rent, but this was my chosen mode of transportation over the water!

I thought things couldn't get much better. Then the visit became MAGICAL.

   Day two of our visit... While taking a look around the Nature Center, the ranger on duty noticed that I was using a mobility scooter. He told me there was a track chair available for use at no cost...

Tank traction

   I sat there stunned for a moment, then I realized what he had said. They had a track chair that could take on a few of the trails and not just the paved ones!

   Typically a track chair needs to be reserved 48 hours in advance to ensure its availability and that it is charged, but no one had reserved it and it had been sitting, plugged in and ready to go. He explained what trails the chair could be used on (trail width is important) and what conditions were optimal. I signed a form, got a five minute lesson on how to use the chair, a map of the trails for use with the chair and a phone number to call if I had any issues, and I was off!

   I have always loved exploring and hiking, but my walking issues have made that nearly impossible in recent years, limiting me to flat, smooth (generally paved) surfaces like roads or sidewalks. Roads can be dangerous and sidewalks are few and far between in recreational areas (unless all you want to do is use the restroom). Now here I was, in my element, independently traversing a hilly, bumpy, gravel path. The nature trail on steroids!

   The experience proved to be a major highlight on our trip. We have been to other parks where chairs were located, only to find that the person in charge of the chair was out that week and they couldn't be reserved, or that they were only available on weekends (our travels are often on weekdays), so I've never had the opportunity to use one before. Potato Creek State Park gave me that opportunity. I can't express enough gratitude to Ranger Tim for bringing this feature to our attention! Nor can I give enough thanks to the generous donor who made this chair possible. The freedom of not being restricted to sitting on the sidelines was uplifting. I could once more participate in the activities I loved.

Hats off to Potato Creek and their staff!

   To learn more about Potato Creek and other Indiana state parks and available activities for the disabled, visit the Indiana State DNR webpage. Accessibility activity details can be found on their Accessibility options page, including trail chairs listed by park (scroll down to see a complete list of parks with accessibility equipment). There is information on how to obtain the chairs and some of the parks even have pictures of the chairs and equipment available. Please note, the chairs are limited and use times may be restricted, so call ahead and make your reservation.

   In the meantime, I'm off to my next adventure!