Wheelchair-accessible mountain trail opens in Vt.
Lisa RathkeThis isn't just any wheelchair-accessible path — it's part of the Appalachian Trail.
The 2,175-mile trail's fourth wheelchair-accessible location opened to the public in Vermont on Saturday after three years of construction. The 900-foot boardwalk and path through floodplain and forest extends over a wide expanse of the Ottauquechee Creek floodplain.
A gravel path slopes up through the woods to a platform at the base of Thundering Falls, a sheer rock face with water pouring over it.
"It's a public trail, it's public land, everybody that can ought to be able to get out on some part of it." said Brian King, an Appalachian Trail Conservancy spokesman.
Other wheelchair-accessible section of the Appalachian Trail, which runs from Maine to Georgia, are located in Falls Village, Conn.; Vernon, N.J.; and near Shady Valley, Tenn., King said. A fifth is under construction near West Point, N.Y.
The project, which cost about $400,000, involved drilling piers 80 feet into the floodplain for the boardwalk, said Ben Rose, executive director of the Green Mountain Club, which oversaw the project. The Green Mountain Club and Vermont Youth Conservation Corp. worked for three seasons to build the wheelchair-accessible section and relocate the rest of trail up a rugged hill.
Officials hope the trail will be enjoyed by walkers, photographers and wildlife viewers as well as the disabled and trail hikers.