America's Trails: Historic Paths for Every Ability Level

Author: Victor Block
Published: 2025/08/03 - Updated: 2025/08/06
Publication Type: Informative
Category Topic: Disability Travel America - Academic Publications

Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main - Insights, Updates

Synopsis: This article explores the diverse hiking and trail opportunities available across the United States, demonstrating how these paths serve as gateways to American history, natural beauty, and accessible outdoor experiences. The piece highlights trails suitable for all ability levels, including wheelchair-friendly options and driving tours, making outdoor exploration inclusive for seniors and people with disabilities. From the historic Appalachian Trail to Louisiana's River Road plantation tours, Colorado's dinosaur trackways, and Massachusetts' scenic waterfalls, these routes offer educational and recreational value while connecting visitors to significant cultural and geological heritage. The article emphasizes that trail exploration can accommodate various physical capabilities and interests, whether through gentle walks on abandoned railroad tracks or more challenging mountain terrain - Disabled World (DW).

Introduction

One benefit, among many, of the lakeside cottage I own in the rolling mountains of western Maine is that it's close to a wide choice of hiking opportunities. These range from a short stroll along the level route of an abandoned railroad track to a stretch of the Appalachian Trail. That walking route extends nearly 2,200 miles between Georgia and Maine, passing through 14 states along the way.

Main Content

Trails come in many lengths, traverse a variety of terrains and can offer alternatives from a brief walk near where you live to a driving expedition far from home. As you travel around the country, and the world, consider a trail tour to delve into places and stories which match your interests and introduce intriguing chapters of history.

With a little research, it's easy to find places to walk that are suitable for everyone and anyone, including those who deal with a physical handicap. Some paths are table-top flat, others almost so. A number of them are walker and wheelchair friendly. Some routes with much of interest to recommend them are best explored by driving.

That's true of a journey along Louisiana's River Road, which runs between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Among antebellum plantation houses it leads to is the Laura homestead, where white and Black Creole families lived during the 18th century. Standing nearby the "big house" are several original slave cabins.

Another stop, the River Road African American Heritage Museum, features materials relating to slavery and African American life in the area. Exhibits include an interactive kiosk relating freedom stories from the Underground Railroad, information about rural Black doctors and inventors, and the country roots of jazz music.

Another episode in history resulted in creation of the Dogtown & Babson Boulder Trail in Gloucester, Massachusetts. During the War of 1812, residents of a farming community there fled to other parts of the country, many of whom left their pet dog behind. Soon, the town was deserted except for those animals, who gave the village its name.

Years later, a wealthy man named Roger Babson established a path leading past boulders carved with inspirational words and phrases. Those who follow this trail today see what are known as the Babson Word Rocks.

The past also comes alive at the Three Island Crossing State Park in Idaho. It was the site of the most challenging water passage along the Oregon Trail. That 2,170-mile route connected Missouri River valleys with the Oregon Territory. It was used by fur trappers and traders during the early 19th century, and later by wagon trains. Original wagon wheel ruts and replicas of Conestoga carts serve as reminders of that time.

Clues to a much earlier period greet visitors to Colorado's Picket Wire Canyon Trail. The largest known dinosaur track site in North America, the 17.6-mile-long Picket Wire Canyon Trail, follows more than 1,400 individual tracks left by the plant-eating Brontosaurus and carnivorous Allosaurus some 150 million years ago.

Then there are trails known primarily for the beauty of the areas through which they run. That's true at the Beartooth Mountain Range in Montana, whose soaring rock walls and steep pinnacles - including 12,807-foot-tall Granite Peak, the highest point in the state - are reflected in the clear waters of sparkling lakes.

Water is the main attraction at the Bash Fish Falls in Massachusetts. It got that unusual moniker from the name of a Native American woman who was accused of adultery and punished by being lashed to a canoe that was sent over the falls, resulting in her death. Several walkways lead to and around the cascading water, including one to its peak which rewards hikers with views into the Taconic State Park. That enclave, which is part of one of the largest unfragmented forests in the East, has been designated by The Nature Conservancy as one of "America's Last Great Places."

A splashing waterfall is a far cry from a desolate, desert-like stretch of sand, but those who visit Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado encounter beauty of a different kind. The tallest dunes in the country, up to 750 feet in height, stretch over an area of about 30 square miles. Hikers, carrying water and shading from the searing sun, may explore this other-worldly setting.

Insights, Analysis, and Developments

Author Credentials: Victor Block has been a travel journalist for many years, and has written for major newspapers, magazines and travel websites and served as an editor of Fodor's Travel Guides. He is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers and the North American Travel Journalists Association. Victor is a regular contributor of reviews to the Disabled World travel section. Visit Victors's biography for further insights into his background and expertise.