EASTHAMPTON – Flora Majumder, age 88, enjoys taking a 20-minute walk every day. Where she lives — at Lathrop Retirement Community in Easthampton — paths, trails and exercise classes that accommodate the use of a cane or walker are plentiful.

But, due to accessibility problems, it can be difficult to get out into nature and walk trails outside of Lathrop. That’s a barrier the nature conservation Mass Audubon organization is trying to eliminate with the introduction of its new all-terrain Rollator walkers.

The walkers are now located at 12 of the organization’s All Persons Trails.

“It’s so important for elders to have options to get out because that’s one thing they miss probably the most,” Majumder said as she used the walker at Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary on Wednesday morning. “If you’re just gonna sit on your butt all day, you know it’s in your own interest to move about.”

The walkers roll on four oversized 10-inch solid tires designed to navigate rough terrain like the gravel paths at Arcadia.

“The new Rollators are ideal for negotiating outdoor pathways and we are delighted to have them available for visitors to borrow at our All Persons Trails,” said Lucy Gertz, Mass Audubon director of accessible programs.

“These walkers will accommodate people with disabilities, as well as older visitors, to more fully and confidently engage with the natural world at our wildlife sanctuaries at their own pace and resting whenever they need to,” she added.

Majumder has her own walker at home, but finds it difficult and inconvenient to lift it into her car. “Usually, when I’m going somewhere, I just take my cane,” she said.

She added that the Mass Audubon-provided walker has bigger wheels than her own, which makes it easier to traverse rough ground.

“Of course, another nice thing is that you can just stop, put your brakes on, turn around and it becomes a chair and you can take a rest” Majumber said, grinning as she took a seat.

Funding for the new walkers, which range in price from $350 to $740, was provided through the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving quality of life for those impacted by paralysis.

All Persons Trails

Mass Audubon established its first All Persons Trail over a decade ago, and since has expanded to 15 of the conservation’s sanctuaries.

The ADA-compliant trails are typically between half a mile and three-quarters of a mile long, and feature level paths made of pavement, crushed gravel or boardwalk. Along the trails, frequent seating provides visitors with resting spots to take in their surroundings.

Beyond ADA compliance, the All Persons Trails include such features as handrails, braille and tactile features, and audio tour stops. Some trails, like the one at Arcadia, even include a post-and-rope system where round beads indicate an interpretive stop and square beads indicate nearby seating.

“Our goal is to have nature available to everyone,” said Jonah Keane, director of Connecticut River Valley Sanctuaries at Mass Audubon.

In a 2022 review of research on nature exposure and health over the last decade, the National Institutes of Health found that increased nature exposure is associated with improved cognitive function, brain activity, blood pressure, physical activity, mental health and sleep.

Understanding the health benefits associated with nature access, along with the plain and simple enjoyment people get from being outdoors, Mass Audubon names accessibility as one of its three focal areas, the other two having to do with resilient landscapes and climate change.

“It’s surprising to see the disparity even in a state like Massachsuetts, and particularly in western Mass, where we have so much nature everywhere and it’s not available for everybody,” said Keane. “Nature has huge benefits for our well-being… and we think everybody deserves that.”

Accessibility comes in many forms, and the All Persons Trails and Rollator walkers are just one example.

Keane said that the conservation’s summer camps are now based on a sliding-scale, so that people with lower incomes can still attend.

And a longer-term goal for the organization is to create 20 new urban green spaces across the state, so that location isn’t a barrier to nature access.

“We don’t want income to be a limiting factor; We don’t want physical disability to be a limiting factor; We don’t want location to be a limiting factor,” said Keane.

As for the walkers, which are located in the Visitor Center, Keane said the group is still working to get the word out.

“I would love to see them used by more people with physical disabilities who would not be able to walk on our trails or explore other trails,” he said.

Maddie Fabian can be reached at mfabian@gazettenet.com or on Twitter @MaddieFabian.]]>