Welcome to Beer & Gear, a series where we get to know individuals making big moves in Portland’s Athletic and Outdoor industries. In this edition, author Ellee Thalheimer talks with Georgena Moran, founder of Access Recreation, a committee that has developed optimal guidelines for detailed hiking trail information and outdoor facilities, which specifically benefit outdoor enthusiasts with disabilities.
67-year-old Georgena Moran may have chaffed her chin while exploring Newell Creek Canyon Nature Park near Oregon City, but she still had a good time. Her wheelchair is specifically configured with a joystick that converts chin movement into commands, and navigating the prolonged grade and rocky terrain caused a bit of a rash.
“That day we went up, down, and everywhere. I’m paralyzed from the shoulders down, but I still want an adventure,” said Moran with signature good humor.
In 2009, Moran founded Access Recreation to create innovative guidelines for describing recreation trails that expressly address the needs of people with wide arrays of disabilities. Her wife Sharon Mitchell soon joined her in her work as a meeting facilitator. With the help of many others, they have evolved descriptions far more in depth than “ADA accessible,” and now, they’re training other agencies and organizations to do the same.
In 1998, Moran raced outrigger canoes, sea kayaked with friends, and worked as a self-employed cabinet maker with a lifestyle centered around outdoor adventures. That year she was diagnosed with a progressive form of multiple sclerosis. Three years later, she was using a wheelchair.
Moran still pursued her beloved outdoor adventures. Because her motorized wheelchair could handle more than pavement, she wanted trail options outside of the ADA-accessible designations.
“I wanted more than a short, flat, paved loop. With the trail information available on park websites, I couldn’t identify a trail to hike in the Gorge that would work for a motorized wheelchair, so I started calling around to places like the US Forest Service,” says Moran.
She was told that there were in fact hiking possibilities for her, but they refused to identify the trails; if she got hurt on one, the Forest Service would be liable. They could only suggest ABA and ADA-accessible trails. Moran wanted the autonomy to choose trails for herself. She transformed her frustration into action. She applied for and received a grant that brought together all sorts of outdoor enthusiasts with different disabilities – from PTSD and blindness to mobility issues and ADHD.
As a result of those discussions, Moran founded Access Recreation with the goal of creating guidelines for describing trails, instead of suggesting them. Moran and Mitchell were instrumental in the creation of the Guidelines for Providing Trail Information that removed liability risks for land management agencies while giving people with disabilities the volition to make their own choices.
Typical trail descriptions might include history, natural features, how to get there, mileage, and photos without captions. Along with this information, Access Recreation guidelines include whether there is an accessible bathroom stall, parking conditions, whether there are public transit options, details about the width, grade, and obstacles on the trail, when the last time the description was updated, and a phone number that reaches an actual human in case there are follow up questions.
Access Recreation’s project AccessTrails has trail descriptions with an abundance of photos, helpful tools in determining whether a trail will meet the needs and preferences of a hiker. Those photos also have dated, detailed photo captions, so people using screen readers can access the information. The Pacific Northwest region of US Fish and Wildlife has been a particularly robust adopter of Access Recreation’s guidelines, as exemplified by their description of access at Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge. Check out the 36 Portland-Vancouver Region trails from the AccessTrails project, which Access Recreation profiled themselves, or join a group like Hike It Baby Portland, which predominantly uses these trails.
Since Access Recreation began in 2009, they have received numerous grants and contracts through agencies like US Fish and Wildlife, Portland Metro parks and natural areas, Oregon Parks and Recreation, Portland Parks & Recreation, ELSO, and Trailkeepers of Oregon. Their reputation has reached far and wide; they’ve given advice to Inclusive Trails all the way in Adelaide, Australia.
In 2023, Moran self-published a memoir, An Ingenious Way to Live, which details more of her incredible story as she follows her passion while living with disabilities.
“People need to know why cookie cutter disabilities information doesn’t work,” said Moran. “Neither Sharon or I are getting younger, so my hope is some young buck in a manual wheelchair can take over the work in the future.”
Cheers to Accessibility
To support accessibility in the outdoors, clink pints at ADA-accessible Tapphoria in Tigard. They regularly carry craft beer from Cascade Lakes Brewing, a nonprofit brewery that fundraises for a list of charities and proudly sponsors Oregon Adaptive Sports, which provides year-round programs that connect people with disabilities to outdoor recreation opportunities.
Some photos provided by Access Recreation, some photos are by Todd Anderson for the Access Recreation New York Times feature, ‘I Wanted That Self-Reliance Back’: Disabled Hikers Forge a New Path, written by Amanda Morris.
Ellee Thalheimer is a Portland-based freelance writer and guidebook author. When she can’t get to the trails, she’s writing fiction, relishing local IPAs, falling off bouldering walls, and obsessively scheming the next adventure. Find her on Instagram: @pnw_hedonism.
