The right wheels make the road

Two different sets of wheels have literally “paved the road” to make the most of the outdoors for wheelchair users: joelettes for carrying people, and all-terrain chairs for independent users that allow them to climb ostacles.

A “chaise” from France, the Joëlette has now been going strong for over 30 years. Created in just two days in 1987 by Joël Claudel, a mountain guide whose nephew had muscular distrophy, it has ever since been produced by Joëlette&Co, part of a company called Ferriol-Matrat, based near Lyon, whose main activity is actually industrial subcontracting in tube processing. Different models exist, with one or two wheels, one for kids, and one with electric assistance. Imitated around the world, one interesting variation is the Becasine chair, made of wood, produced by a Belgian family in the town of Virton (update August 2023: the family of the inventor of the Becasine, David Enthoven, who died two years ago, is currently creating a non-profit association to continue the production of the trekking chair, and keep alive their father’s beautiful project).

Joëlette chairs are a great option to take people of all ages to explore the outdoors, and can be packed in a car boot, which makes it a really nice solution for families too.

To organise a hike, you usually need to have 4 people for each person in a joëlette, as 2 carriers are needed (one at the front and one at the back) and after an interval they need to swap to get some rest.

For this reason, the offer of outdoors hikes of this type is either via a private company (rather expensive option) or a local volunteers organisation (non profit and either for free or a small fee). Sometimes these associations can be difficult to find, because their websites are mostly in the local languages, but there are more opportunities out there than would seem. A good online search will do wonders if you are looking for an outdoors escape or for some inspiration for your next holiday. (at the end of this article you will find two).

The other types of chairs that have really pushed the agenda of hiking for people with reduced mobility are the Grit chair and the Mountain Trike. Both types of all-terrain wheelchairs allow the hiker to use the front handles to propel themselves forward and upwards, and can come with electrical assistance as well.

One of the best things about the Grit chairs is their super enthusiastic community: both the adult users and the parents of younger Grit climbers are a delightful bunch, and you can meet them in the Facebook group Beyond the pavement – by GRIT. Join this massive group, which now counts almost 3000 members, for some fun pictures and great tips on beautiful hiking spots around the world. 

The Mountain Trike also has a lot of enthusiastic users, like those who appear in the video below, and who discuss the pros and cons and show in practice how they use their wheelchair off roads, in some serious muddy paths by the way.

Hiking & advocacy: Disabled Hikers

Another very interesting initiative is Disabled Hikers, a movement created 5 years ago by nature lover from the US Syren Nagakyrie, who describe themselves as “writer, activitist, spoonie”. Their initiative has been quickly growing and it’s not just about the exchange of tips on places to hike. At the time this article was initially published, in January 2023, Nike, the popular sports apparel brand, launched a campaign on their Social Media channels featuring Syren and some of the participants of the Disabled Hikers movement, who were filmed and interviewed during a hike in the woods.

With the slogan “Building Disability Community and Justice in the Outdoors”, Disabled Hikers has become an effective instrument to advocate for improving the accessibility of natural parks, giving detailed descriptions of trails for people with mobility disabilities – and educating people to respect hikers who have a disability, sometimes hidden ones, and enjoy nature together. 
Syren published the first hiking guide for all in 2022. The Disabled Hikers Guidebook to Western Washington and Oregon is their first and hopefully the first of a long list (please come to Europe too, Syren!).
Find more information on the website of the Disabled Hikers movement, follow the Instagram channel of Disabled Hikers and join the thousands of members of the Disabled Hikers Facebook group.

Useful contacts if you want to hike

Both the associations listed below offer outings for families, individuals and groups, and trainings on how to organise an outing with people with reduced mobility in joëlettes.