Zion National Park Offers All-Terrain Wheelchair Rentals

Visitors who use wheelchairs can now experience Zion National Park's famous trails thanks to a new all-terrain wheelchair available for free rental.

The "Extreme Motus" wheelchair features massive wheels and a sturdy frame designed to navigate rocky paths, steep inclines, and uneven terrain. According to Chris Horton from the Zion Forever Project, the wheelchair "looks kind of like a moon lander" and can handle most of the park's trails.

Zion has been leading the way in visitor access for years. The park introduced a canyon shuttle system in 2000 to reduce traffic congestion and switched to all-electric shuttles in 2024, visibly improving air quality.

Now the park is tackling a different kind of barrier. Traditional wheelchairs simply can't navigate dirt paths, rocks, and natural terrain, effectively locking wheelchair users out of experiences millions of other visitors enjoy.

The Extreme Motus changes that equation. Its robust design distributes weight evenly and provides stability on surfaces that would stop standard wheelchairs cold.

The Ripple Effect

Zion isn't alone in this effort. A growing number of national park sites across the country now loan adaptive hiking wheelchairs to visitors.

From Acadia in Maine to Olympic in Washington, parks are recognizing that accessibility shouldn't end at paved paths. These specialized wheelchairs give people the freedom to experience waterfalls, canyon views, and forest trails that were previously out of reach.

The shift represents a broader understanding that nature belongs to everyone. When parks invest in adaptive equipment, they're not just accommodating visitors with disabilities. They're affirming that everyone deserves to feel wind on their face at a mountain overlook or hear a rushing stream on a forest trail.

For many wheelchair users, outdoor recreation has meant staying on concrete while others explore. These all-terrain wheelchairs are rewriting that story, one trail at a time.