Ensuring the Estes Valley is accessible to all guests was the focus of local leaders, town tourism officials, community members, and national advocates who gathered at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park for an accessibility travel showcase on Wednesday.
Hosted by Visit Estes Park in partnership with the Colorado Tourism Office and the global organization Wheel the World, the symposium highlighted the area’s jump from 11 to 36 accessibility-verified businesses and experiences across the valley.
The event included a panel discussion of local and national efforts for inclusive travel strategies and community engagement, as well as hospitality training for businesses to share with their teams.
“Accessibility, as we’ve said, isn’t just about compliance, it’s about hospitality,” Dana Paiement, VEP’s destination development director, said when opening the panel. “We want to be welcoming for visitors in our community. It’s about ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to experience this incredible place.”
For decades, Estes Park’s expansive mountain ranges have served residents and visitors with access to an endless playground of outdoor activities and adventures. For travelers with disabilities, however, navigating mountain destinations has been an uphill battle filled with uncertainty.
Not only does increasing accessibility improve visitor experiences, but it also grows the market and business opportunities to welcome more visitors.
After partnering with Wheel the World, 36 sites in Estes Park became officially “accessibility verified,” meaning that a Wheel the World team member has personally visited the site, verified the information, and provided accurate, detailed, and reliable information for the visitor to use in deciding what works best for them and their abilities.
Panelists and representatives from Wheel the World highlighted how accessibility goes beyond a destination meeting ADA compliance requirements, because compliance does not work for everyone.
ADA-compliant hotels will often have risers to get into showers, preventing wheelchair users from rolling into the shower; bathroom doors with hinges opening inwards, leaving them unable to close the door; or bed frames too high for a wheelchair user to enter without assistance.
Wheel the World takes accessibility verification to a deeper level than ADA compliance, measuring over 200 data points from door widths, bed and sink heights, mirror length, bathroom access, building and common space access, and more.
The company provides photos and detailed descriptions of sites for varying types of disabilities.
“Compliance isn’t always inclusion,” panelist Quinn Brett said on Wednesday, highlighting how even if places are not compliant, providing accurate and detailed information about the space helps users decide whether they can approach them.
Brett is an Estes Park local, former climbing ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park, record-breaking athlete, and disability rights activist who has partnered with land managers and trail builders to help people with disabilities enjoy the outdoors alongside the rest of the world.
“Working as a climber in Rocky Mountain National Park, I didn’t see a lot of wheelchair users, and is it because they didn’t want to be there? No,” Brett said. “It’s not because the people didn’t want to be there, it’s because they did want to be there, we just didn’t have the systems in place to give the most information so that they could be there in a more reasonable way.”
Rocky Mountain Conservancy, the official nonprofit partner of Rocky Mountain National Park, has been working to increase the park’s accessibility. At the showcase, communications manager Kaci Yoh highlighted an ADA-accessible bus for adventurers to book directly on their website, as well as the visitor-use access guide.
The access guide showcases accessibility features in bathrooms and visitor centers throughout the park, as well as descriptions of trails that are accessible to mobility devices of one’s own or available for free rental at the Estes Park Mountain Shop.
Other players in Estes working to increase accessibility throughout town and the park are local business owners Zach Zehr and Brian Kaepplinger. Zehr, owner of the Estes Park Mountain Shop, runs a free program for families to rent mobile assistance devices to use throughout the park. He said that while adapting to abilities is a learning process, it can be improved through communication, interaction, and exposure.
Kaepplinger operates KEP Expeditions, offering guided trips throughout the park, with ADA-compliant vehicles and devices that support its mission of getting “everybody anywhere.”
Local business leaders, town officials, and advocates have worked to increase accessibility throughout the Estes Valley. Paiement said the jump from 11 to 36 accessibility verified sites would not have been possible without the collaborative effort of the partners and community voices.
“I don’t want any barriers to traveling. That’s the worst feeling, is someone not being able to get to Estes because of the lack of infrastructure or accessibility,” said Paiement.
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