For millions across the country and world, Maine is a bastion of natural beauty. Consider Acadia National Park alone, which had an estimated 4 million visitors in 2021. Maine State Parks were not far behind with 3.3 million visitors in 2021. Yet for many people with disabilities, both Mainers and tourists alike, reaching outdoor recreational sites is often difficult.
Over the summer of 2022, DRM staff visited 12 of Maine’s State Parks. Our team followed advocate Keenan Weischedel’s lead as he navigated his manual wheelchair around each site. We photographed and took videos as we navigated trails, reached viewpoints, and experienced barriers at each park we visited.
Some of these barriers included:
- Uneven trails with loose rocks and bumps that impede travel for individuals in a mobility device;
- Limited number of universally accessible trails;
- Facilities that were marked as accessible, but were not;
- Lack of sensory or tactile materials;
- Limited availability of accessible water entry points at lakes and beaches;
- and Lack of public transportation available to reach State Parks.
DRM is pleased to share our video, Accessible Outdoors, as a follow-up to our visits. We are grateful to the contributions of Sarah Trites and Lorje Salamonski, who participated in this video and added additional perspectives of why outdoor access is so important for people with disabilities. We also thank Carlos Cuellar of Catama Productions who produced this video.