Jennifer Allen, TravelAbility Editor and founder of Wonders Within Reach, takes on the world’s only fully accessible campground—camping with three kids, including one in a wheelchair.

What if there were an accessible campground, deep in the forest, with fully accessible sleeping arrangements, accessible bathrooms, only accessible paths and trails, and… well, fully accessible everything from adventures like fishing and boating to essentials like sleeping and eating? An accessible camping wilderness dream…

But accessible camping is not a dream: John Dillon Park is a real place. It has all those things. This one-of-a-kind, FREE, wheelchair friendly park, built in the heart of the Adirondacks, is centered on accessibility and inclusion.

For our family, John Dillon Park was a game-changer. We’ve stayed at a few accessible campgrounds before. However, even with accessible campsites, the rest of the campground and recreation areas were too hard to navigate. Loose gravel roads; narrow, bumpy mini-golf courses; grassy playgrounds of only slides and high monkey bars make accessible camping pads irrelevant.

Our Accessible Camping Experience

People with disabilities often have a hard time finding wheelchair accessible outdoor experiences. National forests don’t grow with the Americans with Disabilities Act in mind. Park systems and recreation areas are made for adventurers – forgetting that wheelchair users are adventurers, too.

When we arrived at John Dillon Park, I was a little bit worried about the quarter mile trail from the parking lot to the accessible cabins with all of our camping gear. We didn’t need any adaptive gear for this trip, thanks to the accessibility of the facilities, but we still had a minivan full of sleeping bags, kid-o-bunks, medical supplies, and food. After we signed in as a park visitor, a volunteer offered to help us deliver our things, but, of course, I wanted to try by myself, first.

The parking lot was loose gravel, but the trail was tightly packed fine gravel that was easy to roll on. The incline percentages are included on the park map so that you can choose the route that’s best for you. We loaded our things into two all-terrain wagons and hit the trail. My eight year old had no problem getting his manual chair down the trail. My eleven year old and I pulled the wagons and the youngest took care of her backpack.

The Accessible Campsite

The trail led us to a pair of lean-tos. A lean-to is like a three-walled cabin, offering shelter from the elements while allowing you to be fully in the wilderness. The lean to had a wide wooden ramp, making it easy to enter and exit. It had one murphy-style wooden bed that pulled down from the wall, and plenty of space for additional cots or floor sleepers.

Our lean-to had an accessible outhouse with an elevated composting toilet with grab bars. A hand sanitizer pump hangs on the wall. These bathrooms are typically semi-private, but no one was staying in our neighboring lean-to, so we had it to ourselves.

We had a food locker to keep our food safe from bears and an accessible campfire with cooking grates. We had an accessible picnic table too.

Accessible Campground Facilities

After setting up our bedding, the kids took off while I worked on dinner. This was actually one of my favorite parts. My crew is old enough to thrive on independent outdoor play, but we rarely have an inclusive outdoor opportunity where all three can navigate the terrain. They explored the woods and went on the mini-adventure of every child’s dream – Tom Sawyer style with no adults. (Maybe that’s a poor comparison. My three are also better at understanding boundaries and staying out of dark caves.)

Dinner was enjoyed at our accessible picnic table – no transfer required. Then we wandered down to the accessible fishing dock to watch the sunset over the lake.

We didn’t make it on an accessible boat trip this visit, but we’ve enjoyed their pontoon before. It’s important not to schedule at high tide if you’re worried about the incline of the boat ramp.

In the dark of the early dawn the next morning, my son was too scared of daddy-long-leggers to use our accessible restroom, so we made the trek back to the indoor ranger station at the parking lot for his enema. This welcome center has electricity and running water and is open 24 hours. The outdoor sink also makes a great kitchen for cleaning dishes before packing up for home.

A Few Accessible Camp Notes

An adventure like this can feel overwhelming to families like mine, but I can’t imagine a better place to start.

The staff here is incredible. If there’s anything you can’t do on your own in a wheelchair, don’t hesitate to ask for help. They will go out of their way to help you.

If camping isn’t your thing, I still highly recommend it for all of the other outdoor recreation opportunities like hiking, fishing, boating, picnicking, or whatever style of outdoor retreat suits you. You can claim a day pass and enjoy the rare treat of barrier-free nature.

Whether you’re spending the day or a weekend – the facilities and amenities are always completely free for you to use.

Find the original article here.