Badlands National Park: A Model of Accessibility

Badlands National Park in South Dakota is renowned as the most wheelchair-friendly national park in the United States.

The park is famous for its geologic deposits and mixed-grass prairie lands. It features three wheelchair-friendly trails, which constitute more than 17% of all its trails, according to a recent study by Aging in Place. Notably, the park also accommodates wheelchairs in 92.3% of its eateries, achieving an impressive total accessibility score of 9.31, as reported in the study.

Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park: A Close Second

Coming in at No. 2, Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park offers two dozen wheelchair-friendly trails, representing a 10.5% share of its total trails. Moreover, 95.7% of its restaurants are equipped for wheelchair access, leading to a total accessibility score of 8.80, as determined by the same study.

Yellowstone National Park: A Haven for Access

Yellowstone National Park, spanning Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, boasts the most wheelchair-accessible trails, totaling 16. However, due to the vast size of the park, this represents only 5.9% of all its trails. Notably, it has the highest percentage of wheelchair-friendly restaurants at 96.3%, thus earning the No. 3 spot on the list.

Pinnacles National Park: The Least Accessible

In contrast, Pinnacles National Park in California ranks as the least accessible park in the U.S. It lacks any wheelchair-friendly trails and only 30.5% of its restaurants accommodate wheelchairs.

Additionally, several parks feature only one wheelchair-friendly trail, such as Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado, and Zion National Park in Utah. For further details on the recent survey assessing the most and least accessible national parks, you can access the results here.

Alison Fox contributes writings for iBestTravel. When she’s not in New York City, she enjoys spending time at the beach or exploring new destinations, aspiring to visit every country in the world. Follow her adventures on Instagram.