Why I'm Writing Reviews for Local Outdoor Spaces

Written by Amy Denton-Luke

Amy sits on a log next to a nature trail through the woods, her forearm crutches resting on the log beside her

When I first moved to Missoula, I had a hard time finding outdoor spaces to explore. It takes time to get to know a new area and familiarize yourself with the local spots, and googling "outdoor recreation near me" doesn’t always help. When I would finally find a place I was interested in visiting, I'd often show up to find it wasn't worth the carsickness, fatigue, and pain flare, or that it just wasn't accessible for me. It was frustrating not being able to find the information I needed online beforehand. While some information is available, you have to dig through the various websites and reviews to find the relevant information needed to determine the site's accessibility, if the information is there at all.

A lot of information for these outdoor recreation areas is missing. The information included on government sites, like USFS or stateparks.gov, is typically basic and incomplete. The details that individuals include on their travel blog or Google reviews are usually limited to the beauty of the site, not its accessibility. Pictures show mountain views and animal sightings, not paths, parking lots, or bathrooms. The information that's relevant for an abled person assessing the enjoyment of a site is different from the information Disabled people need to determine its accessibility. Is there van accessible parking? Are there benches? What is the path like? How long is the walk? Are there steps or steep hills? Without this information, it can be difficult to make plans or determine if the trip will be safe and enjoyable.

What's worse is that there isn't just unavailable information, there's also unreliable, misleading, or even flat out inaccurate information listed for some outdoor spaces. The US Forest Service website lists one state park near me as ADA accessible, even though there is no disabled parking, no benches, and quite literally no trail; just an accessible bathroom. Another example is a nearby popular nature trail, for which every website and blog claims has "benches along the trail". I found out the hard way that there are no benches for the first half mile, and at best one bench per .25 mile after that. For comparison, that's about 4 times farther between benches than other sites I've visited. This nature trail is also often praised for being "accommodating to wheelchairs". Yet, there is no van accessible parking, just one tiny disabled parking sign that non-disabled folks frequently ignore and block on either side.

Another problem is when a site appears accessible at first, only to find out half way through that the trail is not accessible throughout. There's a historic site near me that has van accessible parking, accessible restrooms, and what initially appears to be a mostly flat, albeit rough, trail. However, halfway to the historic site, there's a hill so steep that it would be difficult, unsafe, or maybe impossible for some Disabled folks to traverse by themselves. If Disabled people can't even reach the point of interest, it renders the rest of the site's attempts at accessibility pointless.

These issues don't just affect my area, they exist everywhere. While visiting Glacier National Park in 2017, I was on one of their two allegedly wheelchair accessible trails when I ran into several steep 3 foot drops that were impossible for me to navigate alone, followed by a narrow trail that was too crowded to accommodate me in my wheelchair, so I couldn't make it to the waterfall. On a trip to the Oregon coast in 2021, I visited a beach that people claimed was "accessible", then showed up to find you have to first climb up and over a giant mound of sand in order to get to the "accessible" beach. I struggled over the sand mountain as 100 people stared at me and my legs. Also in the PNW, I picked a hiking trail that I thought was within my abilities and my two mile range. Reviews simply said this trail was "easy", and failed to mention the more than 200 steps on the trail you have to go up and down both ways, completely changing the difficulty level and my ability to safely hike the trail.

Accessibility is an issue in many outdoor recreation areas. Many spaces have not taken Disabled folks into consideration, some make half-assed attempts at accessibility then don't maintain them, and few spaces have done it well. The issue is made worse by the incomplete or incorrect information online. This information is crucial for Disabled folks to find outdoor spaces that are accessible for them, and it's frustrating and disappointing when after all that time and effort spent searching for an accessible spot, you show up to find the trail that's "so easy a child could do it" is actually not accessible for you. It's not our disabilities keeping us from outdoor spaces, it’s the lack of accessibility.

While I can't fix accessibility issues, what I can do is provide others in my community with the information they need to find the outdoor spaces that are right for them. I was inspired by Syren Nagakyrie’s work at Disabled Hikers, who began writing detailed trail descriptions for their local hiking trails in 2018 after running into similar issues and frustrations. So, I have started writing detailed reviews for local outdoor recreation areas, including accessibility information, site descriptions, and photos of the paths, facilities, and views, to help other chronically Ill and Disabled folks find outdoor recreation opportunities that suit their accessibility needs as well as their interests.

Accessibility will mean different things to different people with different disabilities. I strive to gather as much information as possible and take a lot of pictures, so that each person can decide for themselves which sites are accessible for them. I also include information on the views, activities, and experience, so people can decide if the trip is worth the effort, fatigue, and potential flare. Just because a site is accessible doesn't mean it's worth visiting, and Disabled people deserve a variety of recreation opportunities and stunning views too. With all the options and information in one place, it can save a lot of time, spoons, and frustration, and make it easier for Disabled people to plan their next adventure.

This is a resource I wish I had 7 years ago when I had just moved to a new town and was new to being disabled. I hope it provides valuable information for chronically ill and Disabled folks in my area, and I hope more Disabled people feel inspired to collect this information and share it with their own communities. Finally, I hope this work helps to remind Disabled folks that they belong in the outdoors too.

Nature is for everyone.