Category Archives: Accessible Design

Accessible Design

Accessible Hikes – Get Back to Nature!

Ten accessible Hikes in British Columbia + Ten in Washington = Lots of Wilderness to Explore

After finding an article with ten accessible hikes in British Columbia, which are spread across the province from Victoria, B.C. north to Saint George and west to Haida Gwaii and Tofino, I was inspired to find out more.

British Columbia, BC Options

Destination B.C. lists 10 hiking trails to explore when accessibility is a consideration. Most are paved and smooth, while a few provide a variety of surfaces. One even offers all-terrain wheelchairs on loan for those wanting to go off-trail. What?! That’s AWESOME!

You can see the full list for yourself here, but these are a couple of my favorites:

NAIKOON PROVINCIAL PARK, HAIDA GWAII

Naikoon Provincial Park, Photo credit: BC Parks

Formerly a freight railway line during WWI, the Galloping Goose is now part of the Trans Canada Trail, also known as The Great Trail, spanning 55 km (34 mi) from Victoria to Sooke on southern Vancouver Island. Access points are available throughout the trail, allowing for a variety of hikes ranging from a few hours to several days, taking you from Victoria’s urban streets to Douglas fir forests to Sooke’s famous potholes.

On the northern tip of Haida Gwaii you’ll find extended wooden boardwalks. There are also high-contrast tactile interpretive panels with braille and audio for the visually impaired. The main boardwalk forks at a junction: the top portion is a steep hike to the top of Tow Hill, while the 1-km (0.6-mi) lower portion remains barrier-free leading to the Hiellen River Estuary and ocean views. You can see Alaska from the lookout on a clear day. 

You can experience  a virtual hike of the trail  on the Access BC website developed by Spinal Cord Injury BC.

THE GALLOPING GOOSE, VICTORIA

North on Charters Creek Trestle Photo Credit: Gary, http://www.gallopinggoosetrail.com

Formerly a freight railway line during WWI, the Galloping Goose is now part of the Trans Canada Trail, also known as The Great Trail, spanning 55 km (34 mi) from Victoria to Sooke on southern Vancouver Island. Access points are available throughout the trail, allowing for a variety of hikes ranging from a few hours to several days, taking you from Victoria’s urban streets to Douglas fir forests to Sooke’s famous potholes.

Washington State Options

The Washington Trails Association (WTA) lists ten accessible hikes all across Washington State. Whether you or a member of your hiking party is in a wheelchair, pushing a stroller, encouraging young children to hike, recovering from an injury or just beginning a fitness routine for the first time, Washington offers many hiking opportunities. See the full list, here.

From mountains to seashore, eastern or western Washington, these accessible hikes will thrill the senses. A couple of my favorites are:

SEAQUEST STATE PARK – SILVER LAKE

Seaquest State Park has accessible hiking and yurt camping!
Photo credit: WA State Parks

Distance: 1.0 mile
Elevation Gain: 100 feet 
Trail Type: Variable, ADA-Accessible trail
Season: Spring – Fall

COLUMBIA PLATEAU TRAIL

Mount St. Helens may be on full display at Silver Lake (an accessible telescope is often available for close-up volcano viewing), but it’s best to keep your eyes on the lakes and forests along the trail. A haven for local wildlife, Silver Lake might just treat you to a glimpse of deer, elk, owls or even bear!

Accessible hikes at Columbia Plateau.
Photo credit: WA State Parks

Location: Spokane area
Distance: 48 miles of ADA-accessible trails 
Elevation Gain: 10 feet 
Trail Type: ADA-Accessible paved trail      
Season: Spring – Fall

Pick your own adventure on this 143-mile stretch of reclaimed railroad that extends from Spokane to Pasco. Though most accessible at the Cheney Trailhead, this railroad trail includes ADA-Accessible hikes through the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, and family-friendly routes at the Snake River Junction Trailhead.

>> Visit Columbia Plateau Trail

More for your accessible lifestyle

Photo Credit: The Alleles Design Studio, Ltd, Victoria, BC, Canada

Need to update equipment for this level of adventure? Check out our past post about the best designs, both practical and stylish, for accessible living, here.

Accessible Design

Smithsonian: For People Living with Disabilities, New Products Prove Both Practical and Stylish

When buying a pair of shoes, a pen, or a new car—the expectation is for the product to do the job. But you also want it to look good: stylish, current, cool. Why wouldn’t the same be true of products—wheelchairs, hearing aids, and more—designed to aid those with disabilities?

This is one of the major questions explored in the new exhibition “Access+Ability,” on view at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum through September 3 of this year. The show, which features more than 70 works, from an aerodynamic racing wheelchair to a vibration-activated shirt that allows the deaf to experience sounds, covers the wide range of innovations occurring in accessible design. It reflects how designers creating products for those with disabilities are making them not just increasingly functional and practical, but stylish.

“Why not be able to change the color of your prosthetic leg to match your style, your taste, your outfit?” asks Cara McCarty, director of curatorial at Cooper Hewitt, who co-curated the exhibition with Rochelle Steiner, curator and professor of Critical Studies at the University of Southern California. “You can dress it up, dress it down.”  

McCarty is referring to a set of prosthetic leg covers designed and manufactured by McCauley Wanner and Ryan Palibroda for ALLELES Design Studio, which come in a number of patterns and colors, allowing the user the kind of choice they would get if shopping for any other item of apparel.

“Just like people add tattoos to their limbs, life-enhancing products can be yours, you can add your identity to it,” says McCarty.

From increasingly versatile canes and customized prosthetic leg covers to shirts with magnetic closures and shoes with a wrap-around zipper system, the exhibition shows how products created over the past decade are not only becoming more accessible and functional, but fashionable. Through the integration of groundbreaking assistive technologies, 3-D printing and haptic feedback, new design solutions are also extending sensory perception, providing new ways to navigate and negotiate the environment, and promoting greater access to sports and recreation. – Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Press Release

Read the rest of the article: “Smithsonian – For People Living with Disabilities, New Products Prove Both Practical and Stylish”

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Photo Credit: The Alleles Design Studio, Ltd, Victoria, BC, Canada