Karen Samelson

Special to the Journal Sentinel

Campers often take their ability to spend a few nights in a tent in the woods for granted. But for people who use wheelchairs, sleeping on the ground isn’t always an option.

To help people with disabilities explore nature, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources provides 10 wheelchair-accessible cabins around the state. The department recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of its first log cabin at Mirror Lake State Park. What began as a volunteer project of the Telephone Pioneers of America has grown into a popular program that has allowed thousands of people to spend starry nights in the state park system over the years.

“I’m really impressed,” Lori Olson, 45, of Elkhorn said on a June weekend during her first stay at an accessible cabin, at Ottawa Lake in the Kettle Moraine State Forest-Southern Unit. “I haven’t camped in so many years. I used to be a Boy Scout leader. I miss camping.”

Olson, who was born with spina bifida and has used a wheelchair or crutches all of her life, managed to do a little camping when her son, Mack, was a Boy Scout.

But now, she said, “I’m getting too old for the ground.”

The cabins sleep six, with two hospital beds in the bedroom, a sleeper sofa in the living room and two cots on the screened porch. It has a Hoyer lift for people who need assistance with transfers, and a shower-commode chair.

Olson was excited about using the wheel-in shower, which is a better setup than what she has at home.

Of course, she also was excited about making s’mores in the fire ring with her son and cooking her Dutch oven favorites. Husband Richard’s two daughters and a boyfriend joined them.

The kitchen, which has low counters for easy wheelchair access, is equipped with a stovetop, microwave and refrigerator. Because of health regulations, campers must bring their own kitchen utensils, towels and bedding — just like camping.

Besides Ottawa Lake, the eight larger cabins with cooking facilities are at Mirror Lake, Buckhorn, Harrington Beach, High Cliff, Kohler-Andrae and Potawatomi state parks; and Richard Bong State Recreation Area.

The cabins are equipped with air conditioning as well as heat, so the season can run from May through October.

“The air conditioning is intentional for health,” for people with chronic lung conditions, or quadriplegics who can’t sweat, said Anthonette Gilpatrick, the accessibility coordinator for the DNR.

Olson was relieved the cabin had air conditioning; she has diabetes and said the heat can make her sick.

For those who need fewer adaptations, Copper Falls and Blue Mound state parks have rustic 13-by-13-foot cabins that have one double bed and a bunk bed. (One small tent is allowed outside.) The only cooking facility is a fire ring outdoors, but the cabins have lights and two electric outlets for medical devices and other necessities. The cabins are near the shower building with flush toilets.

The bigger cabins run $30 a night, and the rustic cabins are $20, with a $4 reservation fee. An annual state park sticker or day fee is also required.

Cabins fill up fast

The cabins, including the rustic ones, are quite popular, and the Mirror Lake site, because of its proximity to Madison and the Wisconsin Dells, is always booked up for the whole year, Gilpatrick said. Some cabins still have open dates this year, mostly midweek. The DNR’s accessibility website, dnr.wi.gov/topic/openoutdoors, gives some idea of availability, but it’s best to call the desired park directly.

“Mirror Lake is the place everyone wants to go,” said Fayth Kail, 75, of Madison, who has post-polio syndrome and uses a power wheelchair. Kail was on the committee that helped set up the priorities for the cabin project.

“It’s a wonderful experience for people with disabilities who never got out in the woods in tents,” said Kail, who stayed at the Mirror Lake cabin several times with assistance from her late husband. “I never camped before — never thought it was possible.”

The cabin reservation process gives priority to people such as Kail whose disability may prevent them from traditional camping. People who have a permanent disability and require a wheelchair as their sole means of mobility and need assistance with personal care needs are the first priority, followed by wheelchair with minimal assistance, wheelchair, adaptive mobility device or other.

“We try to serve people with disabilities and their friends and family who may not be able to enjoy a traditional camping experience were the cabins not available,” Gilpatrick said.

Campers must send their forms listing their preferred dates directly to the parks of their choice, postmarked no earlier than Jan 10. Staff members at each park sort the requests by priority and postmark. After March 1 requests are filled as they arrive, with categories or random selection used if there are overlaps.

The limit for each park is four nights a year at the eight fully accessible cabins, to ensure that as many people as possible can use them.

Some of the cabin users were born with disabilities, such as Olson, while others have had strokes, spinal cord injuries or diagnoses such as cancer that have limited their camping options. “Their wellbeing increases by being outdoors,” Gilpatrick said.

Getting out is also good for the caregivers, she said: “Caregivers actually say that they got a vacation out of this,” because the camper was able to be more independent and the caregiver didn’t need to help as much. Sometimes they get ideas about adaptations they can make at home.

Committee’s role

The procedure for making reservations is just one of the many things that a committee sorted out when the cabin program began. What special features were needed was another key task.

The program began when the Telephone Pioneers of America, a service organization for current and past telecommunications workers, approached the state park system in 1980 in search of a volunteer project. The group started by buying a log cabin kit, but adjustments were needed, including the height of electrical outlets.

That was before the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, so the committee, made up of people with disabilities as well as two caregivers, helped sort out what was important.

“It’s really amazing what that cabin committee of people with disabilities put together,” meeting evenings and weekends at an accessible apartment complex, Gilpatrick said.

“We didn’t want to make it look like a medical facility,” she added.

Kail, who was key in pushing for disability rights in Madison in the 1970s, said everyone on the committee had ideas. “It all came together as this cabin in the woods at Mirror Lake” in 1991.

Other states have used the Wisconsin cabins as a model, Gilpatrick said.

Although state park camping fees went up this year, the cabin price hasn’t risen at all, Gilpatrick said. The Telephone Pioneers and the committee felt strongly about making sure the cabins were affordable for everyone.

“What they came up with 25 years ago works well,” she said, noting that switching from wood floors to a more durable material is one of the few changes.

The first three cabins were built by the Telephone Pioneers, and the rest have been supported by each park’s friends group and some DNR Stewardship grants.

“It’s a big undertaking from a friends group,” but it’s wonderful when they can do it, Gilpatrick said.

‘A joyful thing’

The newest cabin, at Harrington Beach, opened last year.

Sheila Larkin, who recently moved from Oconomowoc to Milwaukee, visited in May with friends.

“I grew up camping and haven’t been able to, so this is a joyful thing because I can be in the park,” said Larkin, 63, who walks with a four-prong cane. She had a stroke after surgery in 2009 and now has limited use of her left arm and leg.

It’s “great access to the park,” she said. She tried camping once after the stroke, but it was difficult and involved the assistance of numerous friends. “I couldn’t do it without the cabin,” she said.

“It’s especially nice because friends can camp nearby” in the campground, which worked well at Harrington Beach.

Larkin, who has been staying in the accessible cabins for a few years, especially enjoys relaxing with friends at the picnic tables and fire rings.

At the cabin at Potawatomi she had a campfire, and at Harrington Beach she watched the wildlife from the cabin, which had a great view of Puckett’s Pond.

“The park staff are generally very helpful,” she said, also praising the volunteers and friends groups that are dedicated to making the parks accessible.

Larkin tested her new motorized scooter at Harrington Beach and found it worked well on the shuttle bus road, and she also was able to get to the accessible pier on Quarry Lake there. Most of the state parks have accessible trails for people walking with canes or using wheelchairs.

Olson said her weekend at Ottawa Lake with her family was “a lot of fun,” even though she tried fishing and “we got nothing.” But she made her Dutch oven blueberry dump cake, got to hear bullfrogs, and pronounced the view from the cabin “awesome.”

She already had booked a cabin visit in September at Bong, but now she’s vowing to send in her paperwork in January in hopes of getting the cabin at High Cliff next summer.

“It’s nice to be able to have camping again for people with wheelchairs,” she said.

Other accessible activities

Fishing and kayaking are among the other activities that the Wisconsin DNR tries to make accessible to people with disabilities.

Many lakes have accessible fishing piers, and five state parks offer wheelchairs with large wheels made for use on the beach. Kohler-Andrae and Whitefish Dunes state parks also have beach trails, which have a solid surface designed for wheelchairs or people with walking limitations.

Five parks, including Devil’s Lake and Mirror Lake, have kayaks available for use that have raised seat backs with side supports for secure seating, outriggers for stability, and hand braces to help grip the paddles.

Most parks also have accessible trails, some paved with asphalt, to accommodate people with varying abilities.

In the winter, six parks, including the Lapham Peak Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest, have cross-country sit skis that people can use on flat, groomed trails.

For people who want to try fishing or hunting, there are disability groups that help enable those pursuits.

For more information, go to dnr.wi.gov/topic/openoutdoors.

If you go

Reservations for the Wisconsin state parks’ accessible cabins are accepted as of Jan. 10 and allotted according to a disability rating system. The reservation forms, available at dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/camping/cabin.html, should be sent directly to the park.

The 10 fully equipped cabins are $30 a night, and the two rustic cabins are $20. There is also a $4 reservation fee.

Some cabins still have availability this year; call the park’s office for information.