TRAVEL/SPORTS/RECREATION
There are many travel, sports and recreational opportunities for the wheelchair user internationally, nationally and in the Bay Area. Check out this comprehensive list to see what’s available to you.
TRAVEL
Christopher Reeve Foundation Home and Travel Many great articles to read before you go on a trip, lots of good advice and ideas along with the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Resource Center Fact Sheet
Access the World. Travel site created and managed by paraplegic Ashley Lyn Olson
Access Northern California - tons of accessible places to go in Northern California, with great search features
Spin the Globe - Sylvia Longmre searches out the most accessible places all over the world
Exploring the World: A Comprehensive Wheelchair Accessible Travel Guide - excellent overall resource if you’re planning to travel
Barrier Free Travel - lists of all national parks and their accessibility
Environmental Travelling Companions (ETC) - outdoor adventures accessible to people with disabilities
Wheelchair Travel. John Morris, a passionate traveler who also happens to be a triple amputee and wheelchair user, has flown more than 750,000 miles and visited 30 countries and territories — all with just one hand his power wheelchair.
Emerging Horizons magazine - accessible travel news
Yosemite Bug Rustic Mountain Resort has accessible accommodation
Scott Chesney’s video series on accessible travel through the Christopher Reeve Foundation
Trip Buzz. Very comprehensive repository of articles and relevant web sites devoted traveling with a wheelchair
Access Earth is an iOS and Android mobile app and website that allows users to rate places by their accessibility for people with mobility impairments.
Curb Free with Cory Lee is a travel web site created by wheelchair user, Cory Lee, who shares his experiences as a disabled traveler
Special Needs Equipment for Travel
Disability Travel and Recreation Resources
Travelling to Hawaii - just one of Jon K. Price’s blogs on his excellent website, full of resources about living with a spinal cord injury
SPORTS
BORP Bay Area Outreach Recreation Prorgam mission is to improve the health, independence and social integration of children, youth and adults with physical disabilities and visual impairments through sports, fitness, and recreation programs.
The Kelly Brush Foundation supports and encourages spinal cord injury survivors to lead full, physically active lives. The organization has provided grants to buy adaptive sports equipment, such as mono skis, handcycles and sports chairs for people with spinal cord injuries in 47 states. Check out also the KBF Active Project and join the largest community of disabled athletes in the USA. Get on their digital map and discover programs and athletes in your area.
Central Valley Ballers, located in Fresno, is a self-organized group of adult wheelchair basketball players. Those interested, regardless of experience, are encouraged to participate at the team’s regularly-held activities.
High Fives Foundation - Founded by Roy Tuscany, the Tahoe-base Foundation supports the dreams of outdoor action sports athletes by raising injury prevention awareness while providing resources and inspiration to those who suffer life altering injuries.
Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra is a volunteer-based nonprofit dedicated to changing the lives of children and adults with disabilities and their families by: offering year-round outdoor sports and activities, creating inspiring challenges, providing expert instruction and adaptive equipment, and rallying the community to comfortably accommodate people with disabilities
Achieve Tahoe provides winter and summer sports instruction at all ability levels for adults and children with disabilities. By engaging our participants in healthy activity and encouraging exploration of new capabilities, our programs create opportunities for achievement in sports that carry through to other areas in life
The Central California Adaptive Sports Center (CCASC) is located in the Central Sierra Nevada and brings outdoor adventure programs to persons with disabilities. They welcome individuals and groups of all ages and backgrounds.
Move United. Move United uses sports to push what’s possible for everyone.
Wheelchair rider’s guide to the California Coast
Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program (BORP) for adapted sports and rec activities. Check out this video which explains how BORP helps the disabled community with their adaptive sports in Berkeley.
Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors
Far West Wheelchair Athletic Association (FWWAA) - Our mission is to promote sports competition, recreation, and fitness to people with physical disabilities and to recognize those achievements within the community.
Valor Games series provides opportunities for Veterans and service members with disabilities to participate in sports and connect to community providers
Environmental Traveling Companions - ETC makes the joy and challenge of outdoor adventures accessible to people with disabilities and disadvantaged youth
Bair Island Aquatic Center in Redwood City offers free adaptive rowing classes offering the chance to row on the water. In addition, there are opportunities to use an adaptive kayak with outriggers.
Los Gatos Saratoga Recreation offers Accessible Kayaking using the accessible dock at Vasona Lake in Los Gatos.
RECREATION
Break the Barriers, located in Fresno, offers a wide range of inclusive classes and programs. As a pioneer in inclusion, Break the Barriers is dedicated to accelerating awareness, understanding, acceptance and education for all people with various abilities.
Access Adventures enriches the lives of people with disabilities and other under-served members of our community by providing outdoor recreation, open space access, education and therapy, through a working partnership with horses.
Sonoma County Regional Parks is a collection of some 11,000 acres of open space encompassing 56 parks, trails and beaches with many wheelchair accessible venues.
Access guide to Santa Cruz County is primarily written for any wheelchair user wishing to explore Santa Cruz County
Shared Adventures. Organizers of recreational activities for the disabled. Check out this video interview with Foster Andersen and how he started Shared Adventures.
Access Northern California is a comprehensive web site website for finding accessible outdoor adventures in Northern California.
Sins Invalid - a disability justice based performance project that incubates and celebrates artists with disabilities, centralizing artists of color and LGBTQ
AXIS Dance Company is a professional physically integrated contemporary dance company and dance education organization founded in 1987 and based in Oakland. It is one of the first contemporary dance companies in the world to consciously develop choreography that integrates dancers with and without physical disabilities.
Adapted Recreational Resources- San Francisco Bay Area
California State Parks - Information and Disabled Pass
City of Sacramento Access Leisure aims to optimize quality of life and provide enhanced life experience to people with disabilities through accessible recreation programs and services. Programs include a variety of recreational and competitive sports, social and leisure functions, and outdoor educational, and residential and day camping adventures.
Adventures From A Wheelchair - Reviews and Videos of wheelchair accessible trails in the San Francisco Bay Area