Free track chairs open Redwood National Park to more visitors

Visitors with limited mobility got a rare chance to move through Redwood National Park’s Elk Meadow Day Use Area on electric track chairs built for rough forest ground that ordinary wheelchairs cannot handle. The free Excursion Into the Redwoods event ran Saturday, July 11, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with one-hour chair reservations and advance registration required because space was limited.

Redwood Parks Conservancy, the National Park Service and David’s Chair Outdoor Mobility Systems hosted the outing. Registration was handled through jeffk@davidschair.org and 503-320-3127. The track chairs used rubber tracks instead of wheels, giving riders the ability to cross uneven terrain and turn in tight spaces with a zero-turn radius, a practical difference for families bringing older relatives, people recovering from injury and residents living with disabilities.

Jeff Kallevig, David’s Chair’s northwest operations manager, said people with mobility challenges are often shut out of outdoor experiences and that expanding access gives more families and visitors a shared way to enjoy the park. David’s Chair provides its electric all-terrain track chairs at no cost and aims to give people with mobility challenges independence and freedom in outdoor recreation. The organization began on June 29, 2017, after founder David was diagnosed with ALS.

Redwood National and State Parks already offers an all-terrain track chair at the Kuchel Visitor Center for use on Freshwater Beach, also free of charge, with reservations in two-hour blocks. Accessible trails and picnic areas include Simpson-Reed Grove, Crescent Beach, Lieffer Loop Trail, Wilson Creek, Lagoon Creek, Klamath River Overlook, High Bluff Overlook, Big Tree Wayside, Revelation Trail, Karl Knapp/Prairie Creek-Foothills Trail, Lost Man Creek, Elk Meadow Day Use Area and Redwood Creek/Freshwater Beach Day Use Area.

Elk Meadow is a hub for hikers, bikers and wildlife watchers with plenty of parking. The site once held a logging mill, and nearby forests were logged until the day before the park was established in 1968. Redwood Parks Conservancy has supported northern California public lands since 2011.