Wild Wheels
Wilder Places Around Kitchener-Waterloo to Travel by Wheelchair or Walker
For those who'd like to hear the birds chirping and the bees buzzing.
Notes:
1. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of these pages. Things change.
Trails get wet. Bugs come out. Use common sense.
2. This page is not meant for wheelchair athletes, but rather for people who are older or
less physically fit.
3. Feel free to send suggestions to everson@golden.net.
I'll check out as many as I can.
The intent of these web pages is to document those places around K-W where someone with a walker can go to get closer to nature, or where you can push someone in a wheelchair to see more than soccer fields and baseball diamonds.
[ww00.htm]
Map
I give some references by using the tourist map shown here (or its successors).
It's available in many places around K-W. The company that makes the map has no
connection with this web site or the author, and neither bears any responsibility for its
accuracy nor authorizes my use of it. Nor will the company allow me to include pictures of
portions of it, but I'll give you the grid references to help you.
Trail Conditions
Surface
A few trails are paved; these are the best, of course.
Some are not usable because they're mud or because they're soft gravel.
A few have portions that are just too steep.
Many are hard-packed gravel. These are almost always usable if the weather hasn't been too wet. See the picture below for an example of hard-packed gravel.
Hard-Packed Gravel
Hills
You'll have to figure out how steel a hill you can go up. Or go down - people with a walker (like the one shown above) or wheelchair often have more trouble going downhill (especially the stopping part) than going up. Walkers (more correctly called rollators) have six-inch and eight-inch wheels. You'll need one with eight-inch wheels and brakes you can count on to slow you down going downhill.
I've rated some of the hills on the trails as to slope. Here's a picture of a ten degree slope:
Other Things Noted
(not all trails have all of these)
Special Note
The city doesn't always make it clear what things are called. For example, Lakeside Park is beside a lake - but the lake doesn't appear to have a name. When I come across such a mistake, I sometimes name it after myself (Lenny Everson lennypoet@hotmail.ca). So that lake is Everson Lake, until I get the correct name. I may get to name a lot of things after myself! For a while.