Town/Region: South Hero
Website: https://www.shlt.org/access-to-the-outdoors
If you are a person living with a disability and want to enjoy the outdoors, it is not easy to find your adventure. Trail descriptions can be nonexistent, filled with platitudes (“beautiful view!”) or limited to subjective statements such as “easy” or “accessible”. Everyone – especially people who have unstable footing or use mobility devices – benefits from more information, including detailed descriptions of surface material, grade, the presence or absence of accessible parking, kiosks, legible signage, and more. South Hero Land Trust (SHLT) is working with a dedicated group of volunteers to help people in their community have the information they need to enjoy nearby outdoor recreation assets. This fall, thanks to funding from the Land Trust Alliance and Disabled Hikers, SHLT launched the South Hero Outdoor Recreation Accessibility Advocacy Council. The group, including SHLT staff and UVM student and disability advocate Lilian Mae Olsen, came together for the first time in early November to decide what information would be helpful to include in an audit of existing trailheads, aquatic access, and related infrastructure. In the coming months, the Council will visit all outdoor recreation assets and gather information about each site. In the spring, the group will prioritize next steps so that better information is available to outdoor enthusiasts, and there is a comprehensive list of tasks to improve accessibility.
On the same day, thanks to funding from VTGC’s Trail Accessibility Hub, UVTA Executive Director Russ Hirschler and Randy Richardson conducted trail assessments on the existing South Hero Recreation Park trail, and the proposed Islandacres trail. Trail assessments differ from an audit in many ways. A skilled trail builder looks at each section of trail to determine what steps are needed to make the trail accessible and provides a written report with technical recommendations and the time and materials needed to do the work. Learn more about trail assessments and the South Hero Land Trust accessibility work.
