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State of Alaska > DOLWD > Vocational Rehabilitaion > ADA > ADA Parks Survey
ADA Parks Accessibility Survey 2002
In the summer of 2002 The State ADA Coordinator’s Office (SADACO) conducted accessibility surveys of 76 of the 118 Alaska State Parks and roadside pull outs with accessible features intended for public use. Some of the 76 State Parks had several smaller sites within them. This added an additional 49 sites that we surveyed, visiting all of these sites except for 2 of the Kepler-Bradley Lakes sites, which were only accessible by canoe. This brings the total to 123 surveyed for accessibility throughout the state park system. The State Recreation Areas (SRA’s) which contain several additional sites within them are: Chugach State Park, Kenai River Special Management Area, Captain Cook State Recreation Area (SRA), Quartz Lake SRA, Chena River SRA, Lower Chatanika River SRA, Denali State Park, Nancy Lake SRA, and Kepler-Bradley Lakes SRA.
The sites we didn’t survey were either state marine parks, accessible only by boat or floatplane, or completely undeveloped sites with no facilities to survey. This being said, we surveyed two of the state marine parks in Southeast Alaska, and six state public use cabins near Kodiak, all accessed by floatplane.
From the map and list below you will notice six different regions where parks are located. Each region contains numerous state parks and park sites. Each park or park site has a summary sheet of accessible elements at the site. These are noted with the “blue star” next to them. There is a comments section for each site and pictures where available noted at the bottom of the summary. Currently only the accessible ameneties are designated; if a site has other features they are noted at the Department of Natural Resources Parks Site.
While most state parks have new latrines you will find in many instances, accessible latrines with no accessible route. The latrine is ADA compliant if assistance to get to it is provided. Therefore the SADACO came up with some terminology that hopefully will make your recreational experience more fun by designating a difference in terms.
“Accessible” means it is ADA compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) for outdoor recreational facilities on an element-by-element basis. Every element with a “blue star” is ADA compliant.
The term “usable” is applied when an element of the park is not ADAAG compliant but may be usable by some people with the right adaptive equipment and personal commitment to dealing with the challenges presented.
The statewide survey was done using a standard everyday wheelchair as the standard for Usability. It was 27” wide at its widest part using 24”-26” pneumatic rear wheels and 5” polyurethane casters. In the comments section of many survey sheets you will find “usability” statements that go beyond the standard used. For instance with the right outdoor recreation equipment such as the “Kili Cart”, or an “off road” style chair with 8” to 16” pneumatic front casters and 24”-26” by 2” pneumatic rear tires with good push handles, many trails and accessible routes to accessible elements would be usable and enjoyable for recreation purposes independently. Some sites would be usable with trail buddies and friends committed to assisting a person with the right outdoor equipment to take on the adventure together safely.
The key used for park site information is:
| SRA = State Recreation Area |
SP = State Park |
DU = Day Use |
| SRS = State Recreation Site |
SMP = State Marine Park |
GU = Group Use |
| SHP = State Historical Park |
SWP = State Wilderness Park |
CG = Campground |
| SHS = State Historic Site |
TH = Trailhead |
BL = Boat Launch |
Click on the map to view the parks in that region.
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