Trail Talk

Before Edie Perkins heads out to explore a new trail, she runs through a mental checklist.

Is there accessible parking? How far is it from her car to the trail? Is the surface hard-packed or uneven? For most people, those questions barely register. For Perkins, who uses a wheelchair, they determine whether she can venture out at all.

“Exploring new places is always exciting. It can also be a little frightening…there are so many things that able-bodied people don’t understand about accessing the outdoors,” she said.

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.