CARRABASSETT VALLEY – Maine Trail Finder is making it easier for all Mainers to search and discover the most appropriate trails to meet their interests and abilities with new search options and map features for finding and describing accessible trails. Now they need your help!
Photographs are an important way to communicate about trail conditions, surfaces, barriers, and access. In order to help people who use wheelchairs or have other mobility challenges, MTF is looking to add photos of parking lots, trailhead access points, trail surfaces, and potential barriers to as many trails as possible.
Enock Glidden, adaptive athlete and MTF Accessibility Ambassador, says, “I know I tend to look for pictures more than anything to make an informed decision [on which trail to visit]. People don’t tend to know what is truly accessible and that can also vary widely for each individual. Descriptions are a great starting point and for some that is their only method of information but I do find visuals to be very helpful.”
Maine Trail Finder will be raffling off prizes to users who add photos of any of the listed categories to trails rated as “Easy” on the site every week through the end of August. To add photos, you can create a free MTF account and upload them to the trail pages directly from your smart phone. To find out more about the details of the contest, visit MaineTrailFinder.com.
Maine Trail Finder, a project of the Center for Community GIS, has been helping Mainers and visitors to the state find people-powered outdoor adventures since 2010. This spring, Maine Trail Finder added an “Accessible Adventure” filter to the Find Trails map. They also worked with trail managers to add specific information about accessible trails to the Details section of the trail pages, and enhanced the inner trails maps to highlight accessible trail sections and show accessible parking and other points of interest where appropriate.
Maine Trail Finder thanks the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund and the Onion Foundation for supporting this facet of our work as well as the State of Maine ADA Coordinator, Maine Adaptive, and the Adaptive Outdoor Education Center for contributing expertise.
