Local Parks & Paths

chin

Our local park recently finished a refurbishment and has added gravel to the top of the tarmac paths and promenades. 
In the case here, the gravel is normal pea/marled sized gravel, and there is lots of loose material on top of the bound surface underneath to the point that I would be apprehensive about riding a bike through there now, so wanted to find out about other peoples experiences. I'd imagine taking a pushchair would be more difficult now, let alone a wheelchair. 

How do you find accessing parks and gardens?  Are there any surfaces that you avoid? What do you find helps you using parks and gardens? Am I overthinking this - is gravel even a problem to mobility? 

Chloe_Alumni

Hi @chin and a very warm welcome too the community! I guess it would depend on your chair. If you had small front caster wheels then they would be more likely to get caught on the gravel.

Unfortunately this would depend on individual circumstances. I managed gravel but it can be a bumpy ride!

janer1967

Hi @chin That's very interesting, I would struggle on gravel in my manual wheelchair but my mobility scooter would be ok but don't know how long the tyres would last 

April2018mom

I frequently take my disabled son to local parks. Grass and wheelchairs do not mix however. Is there a way to solve the never ending problem of dirty wheels or not? I already use baby wipes and water. Thanks in advance. Suggestions needed pronto. All of the parks in my area are on fairly flat ground. I avoid any parks with hills. It is pretty hard to push a manual wheelchair up a hill. 
We try to avoid grass as much as possible. When going on a family walk at a local park, I just look for any flat paths that are wheelchair friendly. Additionally I tend to research local parks online beforehand or ask other people for park recommendations too. Best of luck to you. It might help to see a map of the park. Or ask the council for some advice. Alternatively you can search online too. 
It depends on the chair in question. My son uses a manual wheelchair for independence. This is far better for him however a manual wheelchair is not recommended for everyone who needs to use a chair. The park closest to me has flat paths and benches for people to sit down if they need a rest at any point. Another park in my town has flat paths as well. We have also driven to a nearby park that has a lake again there is grass and benches.