SPACE FOR EVERYONE

from Arkansas Wild | Spring 2022

QUEENS OF THE FOREST

The water, woods and mountains of majestic Arkansas are unchanging and timeless, but the question of how to best use and protect those resources is a constant. How we manage our natural attractions is an eternal jigsaw puzzle where every piece is cut into the same shape; the overall picture is often hard to see even as random pieces fit together.

The pandemic year has underscored the challenges and opportunities for Arkansas’s outdoors like never before as people flocked to the wild as a way to recreate safely in the era of COVID-19. The meteoric rise in work-fromhome arrangements gives people the chance to move and live where they want regardless of the location of their job, and more are choosing Arkansas for quality of life all the time. And the intense focus of the past two years on issues of diversity and equality means taking a hard look at addressing the things often prohibiting segments of the population from enjoying campgrounds, trails and outdoor activities.

Arkansas Wild visited with multiple sources — including three fresh faces in leadership roles at key outdoors-related agencies — to see how the outdoors are evolving in The Natural State. What follows are their accounts of what we have done and what we have left to do.

ROLLIN’ HOMIE CALI TRANSPLANT TRANSFORMING LOCAL TRAILS

Jeremy McGhee discovered mountain biking after suffering a motorcycling accident in 2001 that left him paralyzed from the waist down. That brought him to Bentonville in 2016 as a presenter at an international cycling conference and, so taken with the surroundings and the trails, he bought a house there where he lives about half the year.

Settling into his new home, he’s tackled trails on a specially designed bike, documenting his adventures for his social media channels the UNPavement. But he’s more than just a consumer of dirt; he’s also a leading expert in how to adapt trails for riders of all abilities.

“I have an awesome bike that allows me to get out on the trails and enjoy nature,” McGhee said. “But it is wide and it is limited. I might be going down a trail and it could be fine, which is a majority of the time, or something happens and I have to turn around. Imagine being a paraplegic and

COURTESY CAMP ALDERSGATE

COURTESY JEREMY MCGHEE A little archer practices at Camp Aldersgate.

OPEN TO ALL SMALL CHANGES PAY OFF BIG

A forested oasis in the city, Little Rock’s Camp Aldersgate hosts multiple camps throughout the year for children with physical challenges as well as those battling disease. And one look at the modified zip line, treehouse or climbing wall here tells you they don’t buy into the myth of the outdoors being only for the able-bodied.

“So many of our population have been put into a corner where they’re not able to experience [the outdoors], not because they’re not able to, but because they haven’t been given the resources to get out in nature,” said Ian Shuttleworth, program coordinator. “They’re all able to and they’re all wanting to and willing to. It’s more about providing them the opportunity to do it.”

Camp Aldersgate is a living showroom of adaptive outdoor activities, the kinds of things that have been slow to make their way into green spaces, camping areas and other wild spots around the state. But, as Katie Jenkins, program coordinator and certified therapeutic recreation specialist, said, things are changing.

“I’ve seen tremendous progress, just since I’ve graduated from college in 2016,” she said. “I think [Arkansas] State Parks are on the right path. Lake Catherine State Park, for example, is one of my favorite state parks in Arkansas, they have a beautiful paved trail in a wooded area that is accessible. Bath houses and whatnot have also come a long way. Nothing hurts my heart more than walking into a state park and seeing bathroom stall doors and fixtures that are not up to ADA code.”

Jenkins said there’s still a long way to go to make public outdoor spaces accessible to people with physical challenges, but that much of it can be addressed by adopting universal design concepts that makes a room accessible to all levels of ability.

“We know, realistically speaking, that not every trail can be paved and is going to be fully accessible, but I strongly believe that we should build cabins and other lodging in state parks with the concept of universal design in mind,” she said. “That way, they’re all built to the same standard instead of just one or two cabins or rooms.

“They’re on the right trajectory, but there’s still a lot of progress that needs to be made. The American Disabilities Act passed into law in 1990, so there’s really no excuse for these barriers to still be there. Hopefully, we’ll get there one day.”

turning that big bike around on a single track with a drop-off.”

That’s precisely the kind of feedback OZ Trails and NWA Trailblazers were after when they approached McGhee to ride and report back on the suitability of routes to accommodate as many riders as possible. It can be harrowing — just watch his video on Wonderland in Bella Vista — but provides an illuminating look at what adaptive riders often face.

“In my experience out on the trail, I’ve got myself into some pretty precarious situations,” he said. “When you don’t have the luxury of walking your bike out or if you’re unable to fix the bike, you’re just stuck. And a crash can happen at any moment, no matter what, even if I’m on novice terrain. Shit happens.

“I had one crash that was pretty minor but I wound up off-trail, down the hill a little bit. My bike’s not broken, I’m not injured, I just need to get my bike 7 feet up this embankment. And I was able to get myself back up to the trail, but I struggled for about two hours trying to get my bike up. I finally had to call for help.”

Catching McGhee’s laid-back SoCal attitude or that of his funloving comrades, you’d never know how staunch the opposition has been around here among riders over amending trails.

“The climate in Bentonville currently is folks are very concerned,” he said. “The term used in the mountain bike world is we’re going to be sanitizing trails. Completely untrue. The biggest misconception I come across in trail adaptation is there’s one type of adaptive trail. Couldn’t be further from the truth. It is multi-experience and very complex. When you consider the gamut of adaptive riders, it is huge.”

“The second misconception is we want to adapt every trail. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to ride every trail out there, but I understand that’s not feasible. So, my approach is to go after low-hanging fruit. Pinpoint those small changes to get maximum return for minimum updates. I totally get it when people within this community are really protective of their trails and the experience. Because you know what? So am I.”