Judging by camping reservations, more and more Texans have been taking advantage of our nearly 90 state parks. But for those with mobility challenges, enjoying those parks has been limited.
Now, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is trying to do something about that, making it possible for even more people to enjoy the majestic beauty of the great outdoors with the addition of motorized track wheelchairs.
Macie Richter, an accessibility specialist for Texas Parks and Wildlife, joined the Standard to share more about the department’s efforts.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: This seems like a rather big step toward making outdoor exploration more inclusive. Tell us about these all-terrain vehicles the department is deploying.
Macie Richter: Yes, so we currently have 11 all-terrain powered track chairs throughout our state parks. We’re really just expanding this. We currently distributed six across Texas, and we’re just looking to get feedback in hopes to get more chairs out there.
This is really to help people access parks and trails that they never had before.
Describe the vehicles or the chairs. What are they? What do they look like?
So like a military tank – they do have the tracks on the side of them. They’re pretty big chairs. I know that our biggest piece of equipment is about 40 inches wide.
They do have a joystick on the front and the back. They have adjustable seats, tilt options, as well as just some little charging ports and lights on the front, if need be.
So is the idea to make it possible to have a kind of hiking experience?
Yes, so these are meant for all terrain. Each park that has a piece of equipment will have their own kind of guidelines for what areas of the park they recommend, but they really are meant to go on rugged terrain, mud, snow, even obstacles and barriers, depending on how high the slope is.
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That’s a good point. In some state parks, getting to the more breathtaking spots can be a challenge for anyone. How far off the beaten path can these vehicles go?
Honestly, that really depends on the park. I would say that depending on how far you wanna go, they can be used for about three hours at a time.
But if there was a big drop or a really narrow path, it might not be able to get there, but it can get as far as the mind can imagine.
Give us some nuts and bolts. How much does it cost? Can you just pull up and hop on? Can anyone use these vehicles? And where do we find them, in which parks right now?
You can reserve any of our mobility devices no matter who you are. You can call or email the park. We do recommend requesting at least two weeks in advance especially in case we need to have some adjustments or support for you.
We have action tracks at five different parks, and then our eco rovers are at McKinney Falls, Government Canyon, Estero, Dino Valley, Cedar Hill, and Brazos Bend.
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I understand Texas Parks is also hoping to enhance the experience for visitors with colorblindness. Tell us about that.
Yeah, so we have about seven different colorblind viewing scopes across Texas. We’ve installed these recently at various parks, and this is really great for visitors that have different colorblindness and really allows them to look through a scope at nature and really see those vivid, bright colors.
In recent decades, there’s been a big push for greater accessibility to public buildings and such. I think some may wonder why it’s taken so long for there to be a focus on the outdoors. Why is this happening now?
That’s a really great question. I think that in recent years that people have really came to understand the importance of nature and going outdoors really for our mind and body.
Of course, we’re working every day in our state parks to make our buildings and facilities and trails more accessible. But in the meantime, these pieces of adaptive equipment are really great to really get people out there at no costs and help people explore things they’ve never explored before.
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