Accessibility in your parks

Virginia State Parks is dedicated to making each park as accessible as possible for individuals with limited mobility. We recognize that our parks are valuable community resources, and being outdoors offers significant physical and mental health benefits. However, we understand that not everyone can enjoy these spaces in the same way, so we are committed to improving accessibility for all visitors. Each park page on our website provides information about the availability of facilities for people with disabilities. We encourage you to check back frequently, as we are continuously updating these pages to provide more comprehensive details about specific facilities and services availability.

In the meantime, for more information before your visit, please contact the State Parks Customer Service Center at 800-933-7275 or reach out to the individual park directly.

Personal Mobility on Trails

The Commonwealth of Virginia's natural area preserves, state forests, state parks and wildlife management areas offer hundreds of miles of trails designed for people to enjoy (or access) the outdoors. These trails offer the public opportunities to experience and enjoy the state's flora, fauna, cultural resources and scenic beauty.

Parks with accessible trails include Bear Creek Lake, Belle Isle, Chippokes, Claytor Lake, First Landing, James River, Kiptopeke, Lake Anna, Leesylvania, Mason Neck, Southwest Virginia Museum, Natural Tunnel, New River Trail, Pocahontas, Machicomoco and Westmoreland.

Many trails are open to wheelchairs, including manual and power wheelchairs, personal mobility assistive scooters and similar devices designed primarily to assist people with limited mobility. Users are encouraged to use caution when selecting trails, as many were designed for foot traffic only. Terrain might make them unsuitable for personal mobility devices.

All-Terrain Wheelchairs

All-terrain wheelchairs are electric chairs designed for use on designated trails within the park. They are available to anyone who needs them, enabling visitors to explore areas of the state parks that may be inaccessible with regular wheelchairs.

These chairs provide individuals with limited mobility the opportunity to access and enjoy outdoor recreation areas, offering the freedom to embark on new adventures. Each park equipped with an all-terrain wheelchair provides specific trail experiences suitable for this specialized chair. There is one chair available in each park region: Mason Neck, York River, Powhatan, Claytor Lake, Wilderness Road and Shenandoah River State Parks.

For more details on how to reserve an all-terrain wheelchair, please visit the All-Terrain Wheelchair webpage.

Information on each park's accessibility

As part of their commitment to making Virginia's public lands places for all to enjoy, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Virginia Department of Forestry, and Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources are also evaluating safety concerns and the environmental impacts of opening these trails to the use of other power-driven mobility devices by individuals with mobility disabilities. Please check this webpage periodically for updates.

 

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