Vancouver’s world-renowned Stanley Park offers accessible interpretive trail for people with disabilities
Vancouver is Canada’s most accessible city for people with physical disabilities. Yet, Vancouver's number one tourist attraction, Stanley Park, has had no purpose built accessible trail that offered interpretive signage. Thanks to a partnership between BC Rehab Foundation, ROCK 101 radio station and the Vancouver Park Board, a revamped Beaver Lake Trail will ensure one of Stanley Park’s prettiest areas is accessible to all. “Most of our facilities are accessible to people in wheelchairs, “ says Eric Meagher, the Stanley Park maintenance supervisor who oversaw the new trail development. “But, we’ve never had the chance to develop an interpretive accessible trail designed just for that purpose.” The trail circling scenic Beaver Lake is a botany lover’s dream that showcases the lake, plant life, wildlife and large trees. Besides interpretative signage, the new trail is wide enough for wheelchairs, and has lower grades, hard-packed surfacing for easier wheeling, accessible benches, occasional safety sideboards, lookout platforms over the lake, and small wooden rest areas in the forest. All of this means the trail is now accessible for people like BC Rehab’s Teri Thorson, in a wheelchair since a 1997 car accident in Australia. “We often hesitate to use outdoor trails because we lack information,” says Thorson, BC Rehab Foundation’s project co-ordinator. “We need accurate information on the physical characteristics of a trail so we can decide if it’s within our range of ability before we start out. “ Stanley Park offers 1,000 acres of beauty and a five and a half mile seawall path that completely circles the park, taking you past most of the major sights in the park in a tour that can last several hours. The Georgia Street entrance is a good place to start. Stanley Park is 1000 acres of natural beauty, and the second largest urban parks in North America. | 
