UKC

Hello,

By way of introduction, I am an experienced hill Walker and I’m looking to complete my ML qualification very soon. 
 

Somebody was asking me about wheelchair access in the outdoors and if I knew of anywhere were somebody in a wheelchair could go. 
 

I admitted that I didn’t know but I am aware that BMC have been working on this. Could somebody please provide me with a few suggestions?

many thanks!

For the lake district Google, Miles without Stiles. I think they have nearly 50 suitable  routes

Disused railway tracks are generally good once you are away from urban areas, bridleways in general shouldn't have stiles (although they can be rather steep at times). Tracks in urban areas tend to have anti-motorbike measures which are unhelpful for wheelchair users.

Latrigg above Keswick is the only wheelchair accessible Wainwright summit I think. Well worthwhile.

I think the nature reserve at Trowbarrow is accessible by at least one route. Nearby RSPB Leighton Moss has lots of wheelchair accessible tracks to the hides. I'd imagine other reserves would be similar. I have come across 'Tramper trails' in some parts of Lancashire which have been created by the county council (or possibly by another local authority like Wyre Borough or Lancaster City?).

Depending on what kind of setting they're interested in worth mentioning there are various third party websites listing wheelchair accessible walks all over the country, and some councils list wheelchair friendly routes, so a Google search for particular areas would probably turn up some options.

Also the 'miles without stiles' initiative is in other national parks too as well as the lake district (seen some signed in the Peak District), so worth checking that specifically too maybe. 

The accessible route actually terminates just before the final climb up to the summit but still at a good vista. The final push may be accessible with a serious scooter like a tramper, if so it'll be on the limit I think. Miles without stiles has a route card for it.

I would be amazing if there was a database giving useful accessibility info to our crags. Even better if it also went into the guidebooks. Miles without stiles are a good example of how paths can be graded for different users. Their criteria for each grade includes steepness, the size of obstacles on the path (rocks and roots etc). It's the impassible barriers like stiles and narrow kissing gates that you really need to know about. 

Could guidebooks incorporate more info into their already handy symbol based systems maybe? Could UKC for that matter? Maybe it's already underway?

I think a lot will depend on other factors. Is the chair user relying on someone to push or is s/he self propelled?
 

I'm able to push my 19 year old daughter along forest tracks, disused railway lines (as already mentioned above) and often on some steep gradients. But not everyone has the ability to do this.

Also, where accessible tracks have been provided they tend to be very short. I saw one yesterday at Dol Idris (Cader Idris area in north Wales), but it claimed to be a 30 minute walk. In my experience that would more likely be about half that. I didn’t explore it, but might go there with my daughter at some point.

The problem with mountains or hills is often the width of the path or track, or with cambers on tracks that contour around a hill (wheelchairs tend to tip over).

Sorry - all my points are a bit obvious and not at all helpful, but I will be interested to see what suggestions you receive here.

On the north side of Cadair Idris is the Mawddach Trail, running along the Mawddach estuary from Dolgellau to Barmouth Bridge, 9.5 miles in all. Wheelchair access and cracking views all the way.

https://www.snowdonia.gov.wales/visiting/get-active/Cycling-and-Mountain-Bi...

You also need to consider what would happen in a situation where something happens to the wheelchair (in my experience, an electric chair which broke down but maybe a puncture or something) and how you would get everyone back safely. A disabled person who needed to get back for treatment at various times of day might be stuck, for example.

I suspect if you gave some ideas about which regions you were interested in, you might get quite a lot more handy local knowledge on here.

The suitability of any route will depend massively on individual factors, the type of chair (motorised vs manual, self propelled/pushed, any support crew, ground conditions etc. Going beyond the purposely made routes (like MWS), a lot depends upon whether people are chair-bound. For instance, if you can get out of the chair for short sections then a lot more routes become available. Similarly if you can get over stiles and lift the chair over, a whole route spoiled by 1 stile can become an option. Getting scooters over stiles can be possible but they are often are so heavy (maybe 100kg+) that they need to be dismantled, moved in bits and reassembled again in the other side, this is obviously a right faff so not something you're going to want to do regularly but if it's the only barrier to an otherwise good route...

I'd suggest doing a recce when you decide on a possible route to assess suitability if you can. It can be a frustrating process as it really doesn't take much to block a route.

That’s brilliant - thanks.

There is a short accessible route from the parking at the south end of the Stiperstones in Shropshire.

The John Muir Trust recently estabkished an easy access route beow Scheilhallion but it was damaged by adverse weather condtions  last - it may be open now https://www.johnmuirtrust.org/whats-new/news/344-big-changes-on-the-fairy-h...

It has some peculiarities though - the gates may be difficult to operate for some users and the drainage channels, whilst obvious needed, are a potential hazard for less mobile users.