About Handicapped-Accessible Parks & Trails in Massachusetts

Enjoying the outdoors in Massachusetts from Cape Cod to the Berkshires is accessible to everyone, regardless of physical abilities. Public parks and conservation areas offer enhanced facilities, adaptive recreation equipment and special interpretive programs for people with mobility, visual and hearing impairments.

Significance

Massachusetts is at the forefront of offering adaptive recreation programs year-round and statewide. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation's Universal Access Program promotes development of handicapped-accessible trails, facilities and adaptive programs in state parks. The National Park Service, local conservation departments and private nonprofit groups like Mass Audubon and the Trustees of the Reservation have designed handicapped-accessible parks, trails and programs for inclusive use of their land. With over 1.5 million acres of land permanently protected for conservation and recreational use in the state, there's a lot for everyone to explore.

Features

Trails and boardwalks smooth enough for a wheelchair to travel on are a basic feature of handicapped-accessible parks. Some parks offer kayaking, canoeing and sailing with adaptive equipment; bicycling with recumbent bikes, trikes or handcycles; fishing from accessible sites; accessible campgrounds; or Braille interpretive signs and guide ropes along nature trails. You can even arrange for a beach wheelchair with large inflated tires to roll to the water's edge. State park staffs provide inclusive nature walks, and many parks have available assistive listening devices.

Geography

You can find handicapped-accessible parks and trails throughout Massachusetts. On Cape Cod, the Buttonbush Trail at the Cape Cod National Seashore headquarters in Eastham and the Johnny Kelley Trail in Dennis include guide ropes and Braille text. Mass Audubon's Broadmoor Sanctuary in Natick offers a 1/4-mile handicapped-accessible trail and boardwalk for bird watching along the Indian Brook. The Department of Conservation and Recreation hosts accessible hiking programs with mountain wheelchairs, push joggers and lots of rest stops at state parks from Spectacle Island in Boston to the Quabbin Reservation in Belchertown, to the D.A.R. State Forest in Goshen and many other sites in between.

Considerations

Always check with a particular park before you visit to make sure the information is up to date. Park websites include universal logos for handicapped-accessible facilities. Community organizations that work with people with disabilities regularly coordinate interpretive programs and adaptive activities at area parks, so check with organizations like All Out Adventures or OutdoorExplorations as well.

Benefits

With trained park staff, enhanced facilities and adaptive equipment, all people--young, old, with or without physical disabilities--can experience the camaraderie, natural beauty and physical and emotional benefits of exploring the outdoors.

Resources

• Department of Conservation and Recreation Universal Access
• Cape Cod National Seashore Trails
• Accessibility at Mass Audubon