While California state parks are public spaces, that doesn’t mean everyone can access them. Many people can’t or don’t know how to access their state parks due to barriers such as lack of transportation, cost of visiting, and information on trail accessibility. Of course, removing access barriers is just the beginning of the effort to ensure that everyone feels welcome and included in state parks, regardless of race, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status. At California State Parks Foundation, we recognize the intersections of people's identities play a role in how they experience and enjoy parks. Through our justice, equity, inclusion, and diversity (JEID) work, we aim to foster a sense of belonging by partnering with organizations who are creating positive and relevant park experiences.
Recently, we joined Syren Nagakyrie (they/them), Founder of Disabled Hikers, on a hike at Mount Tamalpais State Park to learn about their unique Spoon Trail Rating System, discuss the Northern California trail guide book they are working on, and how they are shifting the culture of exclusion in the outdoors.
Disabled Hikers’ mission and vision is to “…build disability community and justice in the outdoors in hopes of a future outdoor culture transformed by representation, access, and justice for Disabled and all other marginalized people.” While hiking the East Peak of Mount Tamalpais State Park’s Verna Dunshee Trail with Syren and their dog, Benji, we see firsthand how Disabled Hikers is creating the inclusive outdoor culture they seek. We start with an interesting conversation about what constitutes a hike and who makes those decisions. The typical outdoor/recreation culture will tell you it is the distance, the terrain, the elevation gain, and the gear you bring — those are what make a hike a hike. The harder the better. However, if we shift our thinking to experiences other than our own, and consider, if someone is outdoors, moving and enjoying their time in nature, taking in the experience, and they consider that a hike, who’s to say they're doing it wrong?
During our conversation, Syren often stops to measure the grade of the trail, take notes on cracks in the pavement, areas to stop and rest, they note when the handrail along the trail stops and starts again, and what sections of the trail are wheelchair accessible — it is an extremely detailed and time-intensive process. They will repeat this process for every park and every trail they are rating for their Disabled Hikers’ Guide to Northern California. This level of detail is not often found in a typical trail rating system. As an example, if you search the Verna Dunshee Trail on the California State Parks website, you will find it is listed as an accessible paved loop with some information regarding the 5-8% grade. Many people would consider this an “easy” trail, but as Syren says, “Easy for who?”
Disabled Hikers’ Spoon Trail Rating System, created by Syren and based on an understanding of Spoon Theory, is a way for people living with disabilities and chronic illness to decide if a specific trail is right for them on a more meaningful, relatable, and more objective scale. Spoon Theory is a metaphor for the energy rationing that many people with disabilities and chronic illness have to do daily. The spoons represent the amount of energy you start your day with. Each daily task or activity may take a certain number of “spoons,” and this number is different for each person. The Spoon Trail Rating System provides an accessibility and difficulty rating for an individual to identify how much energy, or spoons, a trail might take.
Disabled Hikers’ system is more complex and differs from the Easy, Moderate, Hard rating system one typically finds when researching how difficult a trail may be, thus allowing for greater accessibility to trails. The guide book Syren is currently working on will cover Northern California parks, including Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Sue-meg State Park, Mount Tamalpais State Park, and Auburn State Recreation Area, just to name a few.
In addition to creating trail guide books for the disabled community, the Disabled Hikers website provides additional learning resources that can be used as an educational and awareness component for people who are not disabled, to help them start thinking differently about how we assess trails, how we talk about them, and what accessibility in the outdoors means. Disability affects all of us in some way, whether we ourselves are disabled or know someone who is. Having an awareness and thinking about disability differently, seeing it as another way for people to be embodied and have another type of experience, rather than something to be ashamed of, can help us all become advocates for ensuring everyone feels welcome in parks.
In discussing park experiences and how to create welcoming parks for all, Syren says, “My identity as a disabled and queer and trans person is really integral to how I experience the world and the parks and for me it’s about claiming that identity. For too long it’s something that people have been ashamed of...so claiming that and naming that is really a source of power for me.” Traditionally, we, as a culture, have not talked about the different aspects of people’s lives and identities, and how that shapes their experiences of the outdoors and trails. Dominant culture tends to understand things as “normal” or "not normal." If something isn’t "normal," people tend to guess or assume how to make accommodations rather than asking people with disabilities for their expertise and recommendations. Creating positive and collaborative relationships among people with and without disabilities will not only create physical accessibility but also cultural accessibility. Only then can we begin to realize an outdoor culture that is truly inclusive and welcoming to all.
To learn more about Syren Nagakyrie and Disabled Hikers, visit their website at, www.disabledhikers.com.