Michigan to offer track chairs at 25 state parks after hitting fundraising goal

article

Visitors enjoy the trail at Hartwick Pines State Park in Grayling. Some 15 locations around the state now have track chairs available for use at no cost, with 10 additional locations soon to receive chairs, thanks to a multi-year fundraising campaign

Expand

(FOX 2) - Warren Dunes in the southwest part of Michigan and the Upper Peninsula's Tahquamenon Falls are just two of the 15 state parks that now come outfitted with specialized track chairs that can go where normal wheelchairs can't.

The chairs enable wheelchair users to go on trails, on beaches, and access a number of Michigan's favorite state parks that wouldn't normally be available to those with mobility issues.

With the help of more than $400,000 in fundraising, Michigan will soon offer track chairs at 25 state parks - the most that any state in the country offers.

The Department of Natural Resources announced last week it had hit is fundraising goal with the help of 300 donors, including Kali’s Cure for Paralysis Foundation, Safari Club International, Family Hope Foundation, and Friends of Ludington and Grand Haven state parks and Island Lake Recreation Area.

A total of $441,931 was raised over the past five years.

The track chairs can handle snow, sand and even move through half a foot of water. Each one costs around $16,000.

"We have states reaching out to us all the time to start this in their state. Kali’s Cure started this movement in our parks and started this movement across the country," said Michelle O'Kelly, a DNR Parks and Recreation Division resource and fund developer.