Tennessee has just launched a program offering at 22 of its state parks for providing all-terrain electric wheelchairs to visitors.
These allow disabled users to explore the beauty of the Volunteer State’s scenery for free to all kids and adults.
“We’re trying to extend other parts of accessibility so everybody feels welcome and invited to come to Tennessee State Parks,” deputy commissioner Greer Tidwell said.
There are only a few available at each park, so one TN news website recommends calling ahead and making a reservation.
“I thought that with a spinal cord injury, I would never be able to enjoy a nature trail again, and these chairs have just opened up that world again for me,” Tennessee resident Mary Lu Shipstad told Scripps News.
You can find the contact information for each park on the Tennessee State Parks website, which, however, is currently down for maintenance.
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Tennessee joins a number of states and parks, including Colorado, Michigan, and South Dakota, as well as Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, a National Park Service unit, that allow visitors to use or reserve off-road wheelchairs.
In 2022, GNN reported that Georgia and Minnesota also offer all-terrain chairs at some of their parks. Expensive and heavy, most of these states offer wheelchairs at only some of the parks, so always check before taking a disabled friend or loved one out for the day.
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