The Traveling Wheelchair

 
1298 Cohannet St.
Taunton, MA. 02760
Phone: 508-821-1676
http://www.greenfutures.org/associates/boyden.html

Once in a while it’s nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and get in touch with nature. This is what my friends Tony, Kevin and I  did today when we visited the Gertrude Boyden Wildlife/Nature Refuge. It used to be the Laura Thomas Estate and was purchased by the town of Taunton in 1968 and named after the first Chairperson, Gertrude M. Boyden who decided to make the site along the Three Mile River a place for public enjoyment.  It is also a sanctuary for Song Birds, Water Birds, Marsh Birds, Birds of Prey as well as many animals such as Red Fox, Raccoon, Woodchucks, Rabbits, Chipmunks and many forms of Plant Life. I’ve been here many times but decided to do a wheelchair accessibility review of it when I visited today.

The Gertrude Boyden Wildlife/Nature Refuge is spread over 50 acres and I haven’t been to all areas but from the map all areas are wheelchair accessible if you follow the right paths. I would suggest you get a copy of the map before you start wheeling along the paths! Yet I have to warn you that many of the paths have tough terrain to wheel your wheelchair along so this is why I always come here in my Quantum Tilt and Space Power Wheelchair. (See my review of my Quantum Tilt and Space Power Wheelchair). My friends tell me my power chair is like a tank and can get over any terrain.

There is a handicap parking space right up front. The main building is a cabin style building and has an entry door which is not automatic so you will need help in opening this door. The main building is the information center where you can get a map of the trails and any information regarding this refuge. There is a wheelchair accessible ramp at this building which leads to a unisex restroom. The restroom is wheelchair accessible and has one handicap stall with all the ADA requirements.

Right near the main building is a picnic area which has many picnic tables. There is one picnic table that is fully wheelchair accessible for it doesn’t have a bench on one side and I could fit my wheelchair right under the table. The table was a good height for my wheelchair too. The terrain in the picnic area is easy to maneuver any wheelchair on.

This picnic area also has some barbecue pits and a nice large table next to the barbecue pit that anyone can use. All you need to bring is some hamburgers, hot dogs, charcoal and all the trimmings and you could have a great barbecue. You can also bring a picnic lunch and enjoy lunch in this area. There is a running water bubbler in this area but it has steps leading to it and the height of it is not wheelchair accessible. This didn’t bother me for I think these kind of public bubblers are just full of germs and would recommend you bring a long a bottle of water.

We then headed down the main path to the Fragrance Garden and the Orchard. The path’s terrain in this area is full of tree roots sticking out of the ground, pine needles and wood chips. It would be almost impossible for anyone to wheel themselves or have someone push a manual wheelchair along this path.

The flowers and herbs in the Fragrance Garden are beautiful and smell wonderful. Yet there are a lot of weeds so I hope some will help to maintain it for it is too beautiful to let it get overgrown with weeds. The Orchard was also very beautiful to see all in bloom. We didn’t see many birds but heard all of the song birds chirping above. I love the many different sounds of song birds!

From here we decided to cut through a natural path and take a shortcut through the woods. There were a lot of flying insects in this area but none bit me or Tony, just my friend Kevin. He tried to swat them away but failed! I wouldn’t recommend anyone taking this natural path for it isn’t clear and full of leaves, sticks, stones, fallen branches and tree roots but my power chair who my friends call my tank did get me through it!

The path led us to an old cabin in the woods.  Tony told me it was a replica of Arthur Cleveland Bent’s Cabin. He wrote a book called “Life Histories of American Birds”and  spent much time in a cabin at this spot bird watching. The replica cabin was built in his memory and has a large stone placed above the door.

From here we realized that we couldn’t go any further for we were faced with some very steep and long steps. Kevin went down the steps and and when he came back up the steps he told us that they were not safe even for a person who could walk for some of the steps were missing and other steps were in need of repair.

So we turned around and headed back to the main building. It is at this point that we got a map from the information center and noticed that if we had stayed on the main path and not taken the shortcut through the woods, we would have gotten to see much more. By not following the path caused us to miss the Fishing area, Osprey nest, Three Mile River and the Covered bridge and Springs. Oh and I forgot to mention my favorite part- the cost is FREE so visiting here will not hurt your budget.

Since we missed much of the refuge we will head back soon to do a wheelchair accessibility of the paths we missed so watch for Gertrude Boyden Wildlife/Nature Refuge Part 2 review.

I give the Gertrude Boyden Wildlife/Nature Refuge TWO STARS for wheelchair accessibility. In order to earn the other Three Stars they would need to install an automatic door at the main information Center and most important pave or smooth the terrain of all the main paths so persons in all wheelchairs can access. Again, I wouldn’t recommend any person in a manual wheelchair attempt to travel on the main path past the picnic area. If you have an electric wheelchair or an electric scooter you should be ok. And don’t forget to bring your bug spray for their are many flying insects everywhere and they do bite.