Accessibility Guidebook for Outdoor Recreation and Trails

Trail Facilities

To comply with the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 (ABA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, trail facilities such as tent pads and platforms, camp shelters, pit toilets, viewing areas, and similar structures for trail users that are provided along trails—even trails that are not accessible— must be designed to comply with the applicable provisions in FSORAG, except that slopes not steeper than 1:20 (5 percent) are allowed if necessary for drainage of unpaved surfaces that aren’t elevated above the natural ground.

The path of travel between trail facilities, as well as the path connecting them to a trail, must comply with FSTAG. These paths are not outdoor recreation access routes and are not required to meet the technical requirements for an outdoor recreation access route.

Trail facilities must be designed appropriately for the setting and in compliance with the applicable provisions in FSORAG to ensure that the facility can be used for its primary purpose by all hikers, including hikers with disabilities. For example, if a camp shelter is provided along a trail and its floor is above the ground, all hikers must be able to get inside the shelter. As explained in "Camp Shelters" of this guidebook, this can be accomplished by ensuring the camp shelter floor is 17 inches (430 millimeters) minimum to 19 inches (485 millimeters) maximum higher than the camp shelter space at the shelter entrance. This height allows someone using a wheelchair or other assistive device to transfer onto the floor of the shelter.

Requirements for all recreation facilities, including those that are commonly associated with trails, are contained in FSORAG and explained in "Applying the Forest Service Outdoor Recreation Accessibility Guidelines" of this guidebook.