State Park Track chairs
~ by Brian Blair
A
15-year-old Ric Edwards figured his days of exploring in the woods of McCormick’ s Creek State Park were over after he was paralyzed in an auto accident in 1970.
“ Back then, after you were paralyzed, people didn’ t expect you to do much more than sit on the porch and weave baskets,” Edwards said.
Today, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources’ director of ADA compliance is making sure that anyone can weave their way through sometimes challenging trails, beaches, you name it, at the state parks.
The Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. recently provided a $ 1 million grant for the DNR to purchase 48 state-of-the-art all-terrain motorized track chairs to be used for free at every state park. The photo courtesy DNR.
initiative is part of a $ 50 million grant awarded by the Lilly Endowment in 2024 to support upgrades and accessibility throughout the Indiana state park system, according to the department.
Organizers say this development makes Indiana a national leader in park accessibility, supplementing 13 previously available powered mobility chairs.
Brown County State Park has two such electricpowered track chairs capable of running for about seven to eight hours on a single charge. Charging the lithium battery takes two hours.
The tracks that the chairs use to move are like those of tanks, and can tackle nearly any surface, including rugged ground and snow, except stairs.“ We’ re trying to make the parks accessible to anyone,” Edwards said.
30 Our Brown County May / June 2026