Msgr. Buckley 4th Degree Assembly 627

NH working on wheelchair accessible mountain trail

November 9, 2008

GREENFIELD, N.H.—A scenic trail being built for people who use wheelchairs won't be the first handicap-accessible trail in the country, but it might be the first on the the side of a mountain.

"It's easy to build an accessible trail on the salt flats of Utah," said Mike Redmond, vice president for advancement at Crotched Mountain, an organization that is building a 4-mile trail on the side of the mountain on which its rehabilitation facility rests. The first stage, a bit more than a mile, is scheduled to be finished next year.

"As far as we know, this is going to be the longest accessible trail system in a mountain environment in the world," Redmond said. "We do not know of any others that are in a mountain-based environment."

The project began in 2003, when Crotched Mountain created a master plan for its wooded land. In 2005, the organization hired Tom Kokx, of Gilford, a former U.S. Forest Service worker who had designed a camping and hiking program in the Adirondack Mountains for people with disabilities. He found eight distinct areas for different activities, including camping, fishing and hunting.

Peter Jensen of Barrington, Mass., designed the trails.

"The whole idea is to have variability in the grades so the trail users have an opportunity to get a workout," he said last month as he constructed a bridge over one of two streams along the trail.

"What is it like to experience nature up close?" Redmond said. "I think that everyone should have that ability, and that should speak as a model for what trails can be."

Crotched Mountain has established a budget of $2 million for trail building, camping areas and other amenities. So far, it has received nearly $400,000 in grants and gifts.