well compacted gravel- difficult to push?

[katrina915]

I am planning trip to Alaska and one of the trails in Denali State Park (at Eielson visitor center) is .5 miles long with negligible elevation and "well compacted gravel". I push my Dad's wheelchair for him when we travel and never encountered well compacted gravel before. Is this difficult to push on?

 

If anyone has gone to Denali State Park, please comment on it's shuttle system as far as being wheelchair accessible. They indicate it is, but I am concerned if we get off at Eielson visitor center that we may have difficulty getting another wheelchair accessible shuttle back to park entrance since we are going in July.

 

Thanks.

[Gunner22aa]

Wheel chairs typically have very narrow tires on them and I would expect them to sink into the gravel regardless of how well it is compacted. You can however get wider tires designed specifically for outdoor use. Check around and see if you can find a place that will rent them to you. I run an organization that takes care of Canadian ill and injuredsoldiers and we have procured a few sets of these for our wheel chair bound clients. They don't come cheap unfortunatly. You could also look into the rental of a wheelchair specifically designed for outdoor use. They are available.

[xxoocruiser]

I am planning trip to Alaska and one of the trails in Denali State Park (at Eielson visitor center) is .5 miles long with negligible elevation and "well compacted gravel". I push my Dad's wheelchair for him when we travel and never encountered well compacted gravel before. Is this difficult to push on?

 

If anyone has gone to Denali State Park, please comment on it's shuttle system as far as being wheelchair accessible. They indicate it is, but I am concerned if we get off at Eielson visitor center that we may have difficulty getting another wheelchair accessible shuttle back to park entrance since we are going in July.

 

Thanks.

 

 

Is it a transport chair or is it actually full size wheelchair as they are not one in the same ? A transport chair is even riskier to push on gravel whether compacted or not.

Edited November 27, 2013 by xxoocruiser

[katrina915]

It's a standard wheelchair. Wheels pop off and is portable, so I am going to see if I can find outdoor wheels somewhere.

 

We also have heavier wheelchair, but wheels don't pop off and I would have hard time putting in/out of car.

[katrina915]

Gunner and XXOO,

I will look to rent outdoor wheelchair. If I can't, it sounds like we should skip Denali since it would be very limited what Dad could do and I might not even be able to get him to the bathroom if we took the Tundra Wilderness Tour (compact gravel between bus and restrooms here also). Do you agree?

[Shebbieal]

Some of the bathrooms are paved! Not all of them are gravel.

 

Sherry

[Securityman]

I drove a medi-car for many years and found gravel to be very hard to to push a wheelchair on ; you might have to pull the wheelchair to make it easier on you.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Securityman

[Splinter]

Generally the problem with gravel, sand, cobbles, etc. is the casters, not the big wheels on a manual wheelchair.

 

If you plan on doing this type of travel a lot (not just on this cruise) and the wheelchair is a rigid frame (not a folder) you might want to consider investing in a Freewheel. (I don't have any financial interests in this company): http://www.gofreewheel.com

[daju22]

I am planning trip to Alaska and one of the trails in Denali State Park (at Eielson visitor center) is .5 miles long with negligible elevation and "well compacted gravel". I push my Dad's wheelchair for him when we travel and never encountered well compacted gravel before. Is this difficult to push on?

 

If anyone has gone to Denali State Park, please comment on it's shuttle system as far as being wheelchair accessible. They indicate it is, but I am concerned if we get off at Eielson visitor center that we may have difficulty getting another wheelchair accessible shuttle back to park entrance since we are going in July.

 

Thanks.

 

Hi Katrina,

Are you driving to Denali? If so, you can get a special pass to drive your own vehicle into Denali National Park as far as you wish to go. We did this last summer. Here's the information from the website about applying for the pass. I did it over the internet. We had a grand drive to the end of the Denali Park road, but you can go as far as you want. You don't have to worry about accessing the shuttle. Here is the page with information. http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/accessibility.htm

Click on "Download the application for a road travel permit."

 

All of the outhouses/restrooms are very accessible and you can drive right up to them in your own vehicle.

Edited November 29, 2013 by daju22

[PrincessPeggyLynn]

I am planning trip to Alaska and one of the trails in Denali State Park (at Eielson visitor center) is .5 miles long with negligible elevation and "well compacted gravel". I push my Dad's wheelchair for him when we travel and never encountered well compacted gravel before. Is this difficult to push on?

 

If anyone has gone to Denali State Park, please comment on it's shuttle system as far as being wheelchair accessible. They indicate it is, but I am concerned if we get off at Eielson visitor center that we may have difficulty getting another wheelchair accessible shuttle back to park entrance since we are going in July.

 

Thanks.

 

If your dad's wheelchair is a good one with good tires and casters, you should not have a problem. National and State parks are typically good at making and maintaining accessibility features as well as describing and answering questions. I would call the number they have on the website. But when I visited their website and read the description of compacted gravel it sound like the type of surface required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. This is the sentence to which I referred:

"Mountain Vista Loop Trail: Compacted gravel surface. ADA compliant. 5% maximum grade, 6' wide"

[katrina915]

Thanks everyone for the info! I will call Denali National Park and see what they say about the shuttles/trail situation. We are still debating about renting a car or seeing if a cruisetour will work for us.