Find YOUR path
Chester County Access Guide
Helping people with disabilities find the facilities to suit their individual needs and goals.
Barriers to access? What kinds of facilities and information do you need to enjoy more visits to more places? Read more.
Our maps These first maps layer lots of information - including links to other resources - to facilitate your searches. Read more.
Our methods We are combining existing datasets with exhaustive reviews and on-site visits in the first steps to building a comprehensive ! Read more.
Opportunities With help from you and others, we aim to add more sites and increase the range of features and programs we include. Read more.
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What are examples of barriers to getting healthy and happy outdoors do people with disabilities face?
A lack of appropriate physical facilities
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A path that is too uneven or too steep
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A restroom, picnic table, bench, and so on without an accessible route
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Read more here about how we define specific features as accessible
These barriers can affect many people we might not think of as having mobility challenges, like
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A parent pushing a child in a stroller
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Those recovering from a joint replacement
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All of us just growing old!
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And everyone else in their family hoping to join them on an outing
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Other kinds of barriers
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Location: Transportation an existing barrier for many
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Shade: May be at higher risk in the heat
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Other facilities: Restrooms; Benches along paths, Pavilions to support longer outings & those with groups.
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A lack of accurate information ​
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Can I access this path? This program? Does this have other facilities I need?
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People with disabilities need to do ALOT of planning; 1 barrier can doom an outing!
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After facing so many other barriers in their lives, a failed outing is more discouraging
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What methods are we using to slowly assemble this guide?
Our first source for paths and trails - Chester County Trailfinder - included more than 1200 segments of paths, trails, and sidewalks. To manage the amount of data needed for a complete guide, we elected to build it out in stages. We started by flagging facilities that appeared likely to include paths at least 1 mile long that likely meet or approach Universal Access (UA) standards. Later, we will repeat similar steps for paths .5 to 1 mile long, and then for natural trails that approach UA standards.
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We scraped the internet for addresses and other information on these facilities that users might find useful. We created a and relational database to organize the information we collected efficiently> The database also facilitated regular updates of a series of maps we created in ArcGIS to support user searches (see below).
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Our searches of other records revealed almost 230 parks and preserves in Chester County. We hypothesized that larger parks were more likely to accommodate paths in a more natural setting (e.g., not simply a path around a mowed field), and so we ignored (for now) the 120 or so facilities less than 20 acres in size.
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Drawing on our own experience, sites like Alltrails and Traillink, and websites of the facilities themselves, we were able to identify more than 35 parks and preserves that included paths likely meeting our standards, as well as 11 standalone paths (e.g., that extend beyond any one park or preserve) that pass through Chester County at some point.
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We have outlined a series of surveys to collect the data on facilities needed to meet the other goals of the guide. We have begun site visits for the first survey on general facilities (accessible parking, restrooms, etc.), and have completed more than 30 to date.
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Read more here about how we define specific features as accessible ​
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How can you begin to use our maps?
For now, our maps focus on on facilities with paths (e.g., with a paved or gravel surface) that are at least 1 mile long and that are likely to meet UA standards (e.g., are appropriate for all ages and abilities) or to approach them (e.g., usually falling just short of UA standards because of short steep sections).
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When zoomed out, each marker indicates a standalone path, or a park or preserve with at least one such path. The number is a count of the accessible features (in addition to the path) at that park, preserve, or path (read more here about how we define specific features as accessible). Click on solid blue markers to see a popup listing general information about the park, preserve, or standalone path. This example below is a popup for a section of Hibernia Park (slightly highlighted in blue) with 4 accessible features. This popup includes other useful links (e.g., to websites, maps, directions and so on).
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Read more here about how we define specific features as accessible
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Next, zoom in until the marker becomes white with a blue outline. Now when you click on the marker (slightly highlighted in blue here), you will to see a list of specific accessible facilities, features, or points of natural or historical interest. This helps you to know if the park or path has the accessible features you need because not everyone with disabilities needs every facility to be accessible.
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Next, zoom in still more on the park, preserve, or standalone path you are interested in to see the locations of specific features, and whether they are accessible or not (read more here about how we define specific features as accessible). Click on each feature for more information. There are ALOT of different kinds of features, so you might need to scroll down to see them all. This helps you to precisely locate a specific feature that might be especially important to you.​​​​
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And you will also see the paths that meet or that approach UA standards. Click on each path or for more information on that segment. In this example, you can see the highlighted segment of the Rim Trail. In this case, not all sections of the Rim trail meet standards. You will note the lack of accessible parking at the southern trailhead, rendering this path inaccessible to some users.
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Opportunities
Depending on the support and partnerships we can secure with those leading our parks and preserves at the local, county, and state level, we hope to extend the maps in several important ways. For example, we will explore how to include paved paths .5 to 1 mile long, to support those just beginning to Get Moving.
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​We are also eager to add to our maps natural trails at least 1 mile long that that approach UA standards. This work builds on an ongoing collaboration with PennTrails to establish the characteristics of these trails clearly enough for park and preserve managers to help us to reliably identify candidates, which can subsequently be confirmed with site visits. This is critical to helping people with disabilities reach their goal of Building Their Skills, dramatically increasing the number, accessibility, and quality of walks they can enjoy.
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We are also considering the benefits of completing other surveys. For example, we can imagine a site survey of specific features of natural trails such as the presence of benches or other resting spaces, specific points of interest, or specific features that represent sources of trail stress for some people with disabilities. We are also interested in surveying the quality of print and online maps, to understand how these might be improved for people with disabilities. And we are very interested to learn more about specific programs of recreation, education, and volunteering that parks and preserves might undertake. In each case, we would anticipate integrating the information into the guide.
We will be reaching our to leaders of parks and preserve at the local and regional level, with several goals in mind
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To confirm the accuracy of information already collected.
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To solicit interest in collecting more information - for example, about natural trails that may approach UA standards, about programs adapted to people with disabilities, and so on.
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To identify partners who may be willing to support some of these efforts in other ways. ​
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Definitions
We are not in a position to specifically evaluate whether a given facility and all features fully comply with ADA and related standards. So in general, we accept that any facility that is labelled as accessible is in fact accessible (see each definition below for more details).
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Fishing Dock: We note these as accessible if they are labelled as such AND there is an accessible route from an accessible parking area.
Kayak launch: We note these as accessible if they are labelled as such AND there is an accessible route from an accessible parking area.
​​Kiosk: We note these as accessible if there is an accessible route from an accessible parking area.
Parking: We note these as accessible if they are labelled as such.
Path: We note these as meeting UA standards if they are labelled as accessible AND there is an accessible route from an accessible parking area. We also label some paths as likely meeting UA standards.
Picnic Pavilion: We note these as accessible if they are labelled as such AND there is an accessible route from an accessible parking area. We do not require any of the picnic tables to be ADA compliant (we view the principle goal of pavilions to provide a shaded gathering / resting space).
Playground: We note these as accessible if they are labelled as such AND there is an accessible route from an accessible parking area.
Point of Interest: We note these as accessible if they are labelled as such AND there is an accessible route from an accessible parking area (or a path likely meeting UA standards).
Restroom / Portapotti: We note these as accessible if they are labelled as such AND there is an accessible route from an accessible parking area.
