ADA picnic tables Sleeping Dunes National Lakeshore staff has added a motorized chair so the disabled can now access trails to the lake. (NPS Photo)

As the big bubble of Baby Boomers gets older but still want to remain active in national and state parks, there will be a need for more wheelchair access.

That includes ADA Picnic Tables. These are picnic tables with extended tabletops that allow a wheelchair to fit underneath so a disabled person can join the family for a meal. (There are also ADA picnic tables with center access).

The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan is extending this wheelchair access idea to trails as well.

They have added a heavy-duty wheelchair with big treaded tires for their disabled visitors.

The device is called a Track Chair. And this might be the first park where they are being used.

These tank-like wheelchairs are incredible. They have the ability to traverse up steep hills and crawl over sandy surfaces.

The wheelchair was purchased by Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes, an organization that supports the park.

Motorized chair helps disabled visitors on wilderness trails

ADA picnic tables ADA picnic table with overhang for wheelchair access

One of the challenges at Sleeping Dune is that half the park is designated as wilderness - so modifications can't be made to the grounds.

Instead, the group found a way to modify how people hike there.

The super-wheelchair is a big hit. In fact, reservations need to be made three days in advance. In addition, if people have difficulty transferring to the chair, it is suggested they bring along a caregiver to assist them. The chair is required to stay on designated trails.

For the time being, the only trail the mobile chair can access is the 1.5 mile Bay View Trail. But the group hopes to eventually create access for the Track Chair in other areas.

The really good news is that use of the super-wheelchair is free.

"Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes value the right of every visitor to experience our Park's natural beauty," reads a statement on their website. "To provide an opportunity to visitors who need hiking assistance to explore designated trails in the park, Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes offer the use of the track chair. This personal mobility device allows access to gorgeous park features including views of Lake Michigan, pastoral historic farmlands, forest trails and meadows."

The chair is so successful, that the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes advises users "Plan to attract attention!"

Parks adding ADA picnic tables and hopefully more Track Chairs

What a great service for people. What a great way to offer an adventure for people with disabilities.

What a fantastic way to promote inclusion and provide more ways for all visitors to enjoy our incredible national parks.

The Friends group also encourages other national parks to do the same.

Perhaps one day we will see rows of Track Chairs at the entrances to national (and even state parks) giving new hope to disabled park enthusiasts who can now enjoy nature like they never have before.

More and more parks are now adding ADA picnic tables to accommodate disabled people and enable them to participate more with family members and friends.

Now hopefully more parks will offer motorized trail chairs so after a tour of the park, people can pull up their wheelchair at one of those ADA picnic tables and enjoy a meal with fellow hikers.

ADA picnic tables ADA Picnic Table with center wheelchair access. One park has now also added a rugged motorized wheelchair for the disabled