Book your accessible campsite now


Photo courtesy of Martin Lopatka
Photo courtesy of Martin Lopatka

It’s April 28th, wheeler friends. Have you booked your accessible campsite yet? Don’t end up like me last year, scrambling to find an accessible site last minute only to find one site that was available, but on a Tuesday. Perfect. That’d be great if….you know, I didn’t have a job.

Oh man it’s just so sucky. Every wheeler has to learn this lesson the hard way. For me it was when I tried seeing Aerosmith in college, but didn’t even think about the only 30+ wheelchair seats that were in the stadium. I missed the boat on that show, called too late and there was nothing left (and got to hear about how great the show was from all my friends). Total bullcrap.

And as it is with concert venues, the same goes for hotels, cruise ships, Greyhound buses Amtrak trains, and campgrounds. We have to fight like dogs amongst ourselves for the few bones they throw at us. You need to get on Ticketmaster right when tickets go on sale, and you need to book your campsite right away once the reservation line opens. This is the way a slick wheeler must operate.

A rough estimate – out of every campground, state park and decent camping area in the country, there’s probably a few thousand or so “accessible” sites. That’s not a lot when you consider there’s about 20 times the amount of people out there that are vying for these sites.

Accessible campsites are great, btw. You’re close to the accessible bathroom/shower area, your site is bigger and the most important one – you can get your butt in the site. A lot of sites won’t work at all for a lot of wheelers unless you get an accessible one. I really love the accessible cabins they even now offer at state parks. Oh, and if you are dreaming of visiting a national park this summer, hopefully you’ve booked your site already. Accessible sites at places like Yosemite and Yellowstone get booked years in advance (crazy busy, but worth it).

And if all else fails and there are no accessible sites left when you do call this summer, call around and ask if any of the non-accessible sites may work. Some won’t, but some may work. I’ve used several “regular” sites in my day and even though they weren’t perfect, at least I got out there; always the most important thing.

Do you go camping? When do you book?

Photo courtesy of martin lopatka


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