This is a guest post written by Molly Perry, Aggie's mom. Aggie is 4 years old and the youngest of 3 very active siblings. She is a full time wheelchair user who loves to go on adventures. Molly is a former professional figure skater turned stay at home mom.
I took my 4 year old daughter Aggie out on a trail in her wheelchair for the first time to the newly accessible Cliff Trail in Harpswell. The trail is just a few miles up from where we live, so it's a convenient place to go! She is a manual wheelchair user, so when we go hiking our options are wheelchair, hiking backpack (we have the Osprey Poco) or our Bumbleride jogging stroller, which handles bumpy trails quite well.
The accessible section is 0.4 miles (each way) of beautiful woodsy trails along the Strawberry Creek waterway. The town of Harpswell, which manages the trail, built a great landing spot that is easy to get on and off from.
Aggie quickly noted that we should have brought snacks to have a picnic. There is also a small loop with a picnic table at the end of the trail looking out over the creek.
The trails are wide and well packed with a number of sturdy bridges to cross over. Aggie said the bridges were her favorite part. I loved the terrain and winding layout of the trail, which kept it from getting boring or “too easy.”
Aggie was happy to be able to push herself in her wheelchair for the majority of the trail. Remember she is only 4 years old and tiny, so this was quite an accomplishment for her! There is a really amazing section of fairy houses. She was able to get out of her wheelchair (which we call her go-go) to crawl around and even try to build a little house.
This accessible portion of the trail is a nice length for the out and back with still plenty to see and enjoy. It took us about 40 minutes with Aggie navigating mostly on her own and with stops for the views and fairy houses.
The trail is great not only for a wheelchair but a walker, gait trainer or other mobility device. It’s wide enough that even a larger power wheelchair would navigate it nicely as well.
It was amazing to see Aggie have the accessibility to explore a trail on her own. She gives it 2 thumbs up.
We rate this Wheelchair Approved!
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