Governor Maura Healey’s administration says it’s setting its sights on fully opening up the commonwealth’s ample supply of trails, parks, and natural points of interest.
“The problem is that we have thousands of miles of trail in Massachusetts, and a very, very small fraction of those are accessible to people with mobility devices. And really, having access to the outdoors, whether you need a mobility device or whether you have just mobility issues, is a really critical public health and public wellbeing issue," said Paul Jahnige, Director of the Massachusetts Office of Outdoor Recreation. “We're trying to improve that by looking at, what are the barriers to creating accessible trails in the outdoor environment, and then prioritizing, how do we devote more resources to it, both at the state level and also with our state private partners and landowners?”
Enter the new Trails for All initiative.
“This initiative will really focus on all kinds of accessible trails, both your sort of paved, shared use path, kinds of trails that we do have a number of across the state, but also, really, how do we provide accessible access to woodland areas, whether that's in the eastern part of the state and some of our parks out near Boston, or the hundreds of thousands of acres in Western Massachusetts," Jahnige continued. "We're going to be bringing together stakeholders from across the state, from the disability community, from the adaptive recreation community, from the state and private partners to look at this issue.”
Accessibility activists say centering the experience of people with disabilities is vital for the project’s success.
“Often, even trails that are accessible right now overlook some barriers that to those of us with disabilities are fairly obvious," Meg Bandarra told WAMC. "So, you want a surface that is stable, you want a trail that's wide enough for mobility devices or people who have service animals to be able to use those trails. You want them to be not too steep, but they don't have to be flat. They can they can have some inclines, but they can't be too drastic and too steep. And you want just clear information about the trail, because sometimes the first barrier you encounter is that you can't find the trail and you can't find any information about it.”
Bandarra is the founder of Unpaved Trails for All, a nonprofit that originally launched in Northampton.
“In Massachusetts, 33% to 47% of the population is in a category that can benefit from accessible trails- That would be older adults, people under 65 who have disabling conditions, and families with small children," she explained. "But less than 1% of the trails in our state currently are designed to meet standards that take into account all of these groups mobility considerations.”
As the group’s name suggests, its goal is to ensure the outdoors are available to everyone in Massachusetts while maintaining the commonwealth’s natural resources as they are.
“We're not anti-pavement, we're just pro the idea that not all spaces have to be paved," said Bandarra. "Just like people without disabilities, people with disabilities want a variety of experiences available to us, and there is particularly just a different feeling when you're in a space that feels more natural. And what a lot of the health studies have shown is that nature is beneficial to stress, beneficial to a stress reduction, beneficial to our health and wellness, but there are some studies that are showing that, in particular, the more natural a space feels, the more stress reduction you get from that. And that's really important for people with disabilities, because we have higher rates of stress than non-disabled people because we have more stressors like exclusion and physical barriers to access. Those are more stressors in our life.”
The Trails For All initiative will embrace the concept of universal design: the idea that environments can be tailored to suit all users from the get-go.
“All Persons Trails are designed to meet or exceed standards set in the Architectural Barriers Act or in the US Forest Service trail accessibility guidelines, and this looks like trails that are maybe a little bit wider than a typical trail," Rae Ettenger told WAMC. "They usually have a stable stone dust or gravel compacted surface. We're not really talking about paved trails here, because those are definitely not the most sustainable surface options for rainwater or for animals and wildlife.”
Ettenger is the New England Conservation Policy Specialist for the almost 150-year-old Appalachian Mountain Club, the oldest outdoor group in the United States.
“These trails also usually have inclusive signage and way finding, so people with blindness or who experience low vision are still able to access the trail independently," she continued. "So, in terms of sustainability, these trails honestly do require more maintenance to remain accessible and sustainable than some other types of trails. But to be honest with you, all of our trails need more funding and more work, and that's why we're really excited to be partnering with the commonwealth to work on making accessible trails better for everyone, getting more funding for accessible trails.”
According to Massachusetts, the first phase of Trails For All will be a year-long assessment and recommendations report, with action on the ground beginning in 2026.
