ALABAMA

Alabama has a number of trails with minimal obstacles.  Some are very easy and others are wheelchair accessible.  Here are just a few of them.

These links  were found through Internet search.  I would love some first-hand information.   With your help, we can share our knowledge with disabled people everywhere and also increase awareness of the need for more accessibility. Please e-mail me with your suggestions using the form in the sidebar.

Federal
State
Local
Private
Miscellaneous

Federal

  • Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge
    The Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge has an accessible trail and an easy birding trail.  The refuge lies in both Mississippi and Alabama and is part of the Gulf Coast Complex.   Here is the refuge’s website.
    HikerwithcaneThe Oak Grove Birding Trail is just off Bayou Heron Road, south of the headquarters building.  Here is a description and photographs from MathProfHiker’s Hiking Blog, which states the trail is  “0.5 miles flat and easy miles.”    The   Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve’s website  describes the habitat as “maritime, mixed hardwood forest intermingled with pines that slope down towards the marshes that border the upper reaches of Bayou Heron. ”
    Wheelchair AccessibleThe Escatawpa Trail system is part boardwalk and part gravel. 3 options are available, including a boardwalk/gravel loop that is “fully accessible for visitors”. Several benches are available along the trail as well as an overlook at the Escatawpa River.  Mathprofhiker’s Hiking Blog suggests you hike it in the dry season lest you end up wading as he did. Here is a description from Travels with Emma, another useful blog.
    Brochure & Map  Phone 228-475-0765

    Know more about Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge?
    Have you visited this location and know of more accessible or easy trails?  Is any of the information given here incorrect?  If so, please contact me using the form to the left and let me know what should be changed or added so I can update this post.

  • Here is the Website for the National Forests in Alabama.  There is contact information for the various Forest managers, but accessibility is not mentioned in the site.


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State

  • Alabama State Parks  Some trails in the State Parks are described as “easy” or “family oriented”, but since those might include trails with obstacles such as fallen logs, major tree roots, rocks, etc.. I am not including them here.

  • Dauphin Island Sea Lab –
    The Dauphin Island Sea Lab is an accessible public aquarium where you can learn about the four key habitats of coastal Alabama: the Mobile Tensaw River Delta, Mobile Bay, Barrier Islands and Northern Gulf of Mexico.  The lab is on the east end of Dauphin Island, about 3 miles from the mainland and 35 miles south of Mobile.
    Wheelchair AccessibleThey don’t have trails per se, but there is a 10,000 sq foot exhibit hall and a “Living Marsh Boardwalk”   The lab is handicapped accessible.  Entry fee for an adult is $10 Phone 251-861-2141  Here is their website.

  • Gulf State Park  – easy and accessible trails
    Gulf State Park has two miles of white sand beaches.  A number of the trails here are “easy”, but maybe not enough.  Call to find out.  The park is southeast of Mobile and west of Pensacola.
    Wheelchair Accessible Bear Creek is described in the web site as: “… a unique trail because it used to be an old paved road heading to Orange Beach.  Since it is paved, this trail is the most accessible to the handicapped and campers with small children in strollers.”
    Wheelchair AccessibleHugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail  paved  “Seven trails among six distinct ecosystems make up more than 15 miles of the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail complex through Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Alabama and the Gulf State Park.”  “The trails run along marshes, secondary sand dunes, swamps, over creeks.”
    Website   Phone 251-948-7275  Trail Map

    Know more about Gulf State Park?
    Have you visited this location and know of more accessible or easy trails?  Is any of the information given here incorrect?  If so, please contact me using the form to the left and let me know what should be changed or added so I can update this post.

     


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Local

  • Huntsville Botanical Gardens 
    The Huntsville Botanical Garden “boasts a picture perfect aquatic garden, a spectacular wildflower and nature trail and numerous specialty gardens and plant collections.  They have the nation’s largest seasonal butterfly house and eight specialized gardens aimed toward the younger set.”  Here is their website.
    Wheelchair AccessibleAlthough their site does not specifically say the trails are wheelchair accessible, they do say “Wheelchairs and strollers are available through the Visitor Center. For visitors with limited mobility, a shuttle is usually available April through October. For reservations, call 256-830-4447 ext. 221.”   They have a nature center/butterfly house and a nature trail.  Map


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Private

  • Audubon Bird Sanctuary
    Wheelchair AccessibleThe Audubon Bird Sanctuary on Dauphin Island, has “…164 acres of maritime forest, marshes, dunes, a lake, swamp and beach. Multiple walking trails, some handicapped accessible, allow the avid birder miles of habitat for spotting neo-tropical migrants.”  Here is their website.   Call Phone: 251–861-3607 for information.

  • Camp ASCCA
    Alabama’s Special Camp for Children and Adults is a camp for the disabled affiliated with Easter Seals.  Website


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Miscellaneous

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