Parks Aim to Increase Accessibility

CAVE CITY, Ky. (AP) -- Mammoth Cave National Park has upgraded a trail as part of a coordinated effort by the National Park Service to increase accessibility to disabled visitors.

The Echo River Spring Trail reopened earlier this year after a $1.1 million transformation from a rutted gravel footpath to an 8-foot-wide concrete and wood path. New signs include Braille and invite visitors to experience them by touch so they are more meaningful to the visually or cognitively impaired.

National Park Service accessibility chief Jeremy Buzzell says nine parks across the U.S. have received more than $10 million in federal funding to design and build accessibility projects as examples for other parks.

A project at Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Alaska also is complete, and four other parks have projects in the works.

(KA)