Getting Into—and Above—the Woods in a Wheelchair
Town/Region: Quechee, Vermont
Website: https://www.trailfinder.info/trail-talk/post/vins-getting-into-and-above-the-woods-in-a-wheelchair
Edie Perkins, a lifelong cyclist who lives in South Burlington, was paralyzed from the chest down in 2017 after a car hit her while she was biking. Now she uses a wheelchair or a hand-cycle on trails. Recently, she visited the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) in Quechee, a forested campus known for its treetop boardwalk and network of accessible trails.
VINS’s trail system was improved with support from the Upper Valley Trail Alliance (UVTA), a member of the Vermont Trail Accessibility Hub (TAH). The Hub is a statewide initiative led by the Vermont Trails & Greenways Council (VTGC), and a partnership of six organizations working to expand access to trails for people of all abilities.
“Everything at VINS felt thoughtfully designed for accessibility without losing that wild, natural feel. The paths are subtle, the views are incredible, and the experience left me grinning ear to ear…the sense of peace was exactly what I’d hoped for, ” Perkins wrote in a post she recently wrote about VINS for Trail Finder
Read her full review of VINS on Trail Finder.
