Trails for All: Making Nature Accessible in Disability Pride Month

By: Meg Bandarra, Unpaved Trails For All, Dan Minnich, Waypoint Adventure, and Rae Ettenger, Appalachian Mountain Club

The sound of birdsong cuts through the quiet. A breeze moves through tall pines, carrying the scent of damp earth and wildflowers. The trail winds gently ahead – wide, firm, and welcoming. For someone using a wheeled mobility device, rolling forward on a natural surface instead of pavement offers something often out of reach: freedom, presence, and connection with the natural world.

These are the moments many people with disabilities long for, and so often are denied.

July is Disability Pride Month, and this year marks the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As we celebrate the legacy of that landmark civil rights law, we must also confront where access still falls short – including in the outdoors. A new piece of legislation, the Trails for All Act, aims to address these persistent gaps in trail accessibility.

In Massachusetts, public trails are a treasured resource. There are over 4,000 miles of nature trails in our state parks – yet less than 7.5 miles of natural surface woodland trails are considered accessible to people with limited mobility. That means nearly half the state – an estimated 36-49% of residents, including people with disabilities, older adults, and caregivers with young children – face unnecessary barriers to the benefits of outdoor recreation in their communities.

To change this, the Trail Access Working Group – led by the Massachusetts Office of Outdoor Recreation – hosted the Accessible Trails Public Forum this past May. Held as part of the Trails for All initiative, the virtual event brought together people with disabilities, caregivers, advocates, and trail professionals to share their struggles and hopes for equitable access to nature.

Two central needs were identified at the core of what families and individuals required:

• The urgent need for increased public funding to build and maintain universally accessible trails across the Commonwealth. Accessible design – from surface materials to trail width, signage, and rest areas – requires investment and technical support.
• The need for sustained input from the disability community in planning and design.Too often, trails are labeled “accessible” without involving those who rely on those features. The result? Trails that meet technical guidelines but lack essentials like signage, wayfinding, parking, rest areas, or appropriate surfaces. True inclusion means co-designing with those most impacted.

Fortunately, legislation is on the table that meets this moment. The Trails for All Act(S.548/H.915) – championed by Senator Jo Comerford and Representative Michelle Ciccolo and backed by a bipartisan coalition of 30+ legislators – would establish a dedicated fund for accessible trails to implement the Working Group‘s recommendations. The Act would also establish a permanent advisory council, composed of members of the disability community, to ensure trails are truly inclusive and not just compliant on paper.

To be clear: this isn’t about paving the woods. We value the full range of trail experiences in Massachusetts. But everyone should have access to a high-quality, welcoming outdoor experience in their own community – whether that means a quiet loop around a pond, a forest walk with a stroller, or a woodland trail that accommodates a mobility device.

Accessible trails don’t just offer recreation. They offer health, independence, belonging, and joy – especially for the nearly half of Massachusetts residents who benefit from accessible design.

Massachusetts has the chance to lead – to affirm that nature belongs to everyone, and no one should be left out because of how a trail is built. Let’s honor Disability Pride Month and the promise of the ADA by passing the Trails for All Act this session – and make the outdoors truly open to all.

Meg Bandarra is the Founder of Unpaved Trails For All, a disability-led grassroots advocacy organization that advocates for increased access to unpaved, universally accessible trails that are designed in collaboration with people with lived experience of disability, because all residents of Massachusetts deserve access to nature.

Dan Minnich is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Waypoint Adventure, a nonprofit educational organization founded in 2010. Waypoint Adventure creates custom, experiential programs that challenge and inspire participants with disabilitiNature Accessibilityes to discover their strengths, build self-confidence, and develop foundational life skills. The organization offers a wide range of adventures including hiking, rock climbing, rope courses, kayaking, canoeing, and team-building activities. Each of these programs are tailored to meet the unique needs and goals of every participant, creating a personalized experience that fosters a sense of community and increases people’s sense of themselves.

Rae Ettenger serves as New England Conservation Policy Coordinator for the Appalachian Mountain Club. Founded in 1876, the Appalachian Mountain Club is the nation’s oldest conservation and recreation organization. AMC is a community of more than 90,000 adventurers, advocates, and nature nerds whose passion for the outdoors knows no bounds. From Maine to Virginia, AMC connects people with nature—and with each other. AMC operates its high mountain huts under several special permits and leases, including in the White Mountain National Forest and New Hampshire State Parks.

Take action: ask your MA State Representative to make the outdoors accessible for all! Use the form to quickly send a letter asking them to support the Trails For All bill (S.548/H.915).

Join us: Trails for All Hike on Friday, September 26th from 1-3pm at Belle Isle Marsh Reservation with Unpaved Trails for All, and Appalachian Mountain Club — advocate for more accessible trails in Massachusetts and support the Trails for All Bill (S.548/H.915)!