outdoors
THE BEACH WITHIN REACH by SARAH BENCE
This lakeside town is an emerging accessible-travel haven for nature lovers of all abilities.
Stearns Park Beach
photo by Dave Weidner
I
n the sweet coastal town of ludington, one of Michigan’s best assets is opening up to people with various disabilities: the outdoors. Ludington has become a more welcoming and accessible outdoor destination, thanks to efforts by both local disability advocates and the Friends of Ludington State Park, a nonprofit organization supporting the park. According to Patrick O’Hare, president of the Friends of Ludington State Park, the organization is always looking for ways to enhance the park, and it just so happens that a number of those projects involve improving accessibility. One such project was obtaining an all-terrain, electricpowered track chair in May 2022 for state park visitors. The off-road track chair can handle uneven trails, snow, sand and even water. In its first season, it was used 58 times. “The response has been overwhelmingly very positive,” O’Hare says.
Some of that encouraging feedback included a comment shared by Jennifer McDonald Murphy, whose husband used the Ludington track chair. “I cannot begin to describe the feelings my family had seeing [my husband] truly happy for the first time in years. Driving along the beach he said, ‘I never thought I’d hear the waves again.’” Jamie Spore, Ms. Wheelchair Michigan 2016, is an accessibility advisor to Friends of Ludington State Park, as well as other Ludington businesses. Born with spina bifida, Spore is a lifelong paraplegic wheelchair user and has been a passionate advocate when it comes to accessibility for all. “The new track chair has been an amazing addition to Ludington State Park,” says Spore, who has taken it for rides on the Logging Trail and the path out to Big Sable Point Lighthouse. “Before the track chair … I had never been able to go on the Logging Trail, because of inaccessibility. It’s a beautiful trail!” AUGUST 2023
0823_TVM_outdoors.indd 27
27
7/10/23 2:18 PM
