Tennessee Aquarium

We visited the Tennessee Aquarium on Sunday, June 2, 2013.  We found it to be very wheelchair-friendly, and the attendants were wonderful in explaining where the elevators were.

There are two buildings ... the River Journey and the Ocean Journey.  Inside each building, you ride the elevator to the top floor, and follow a gently-sloping carpeted pathway down through the exhibits, spiraling back down to the bottom of the building.  The wheelchair and stroller bypasses are well-marked, and people were very friendly with helping us open doors, etc.

The only VERY minor snag we ran into was on the top floor of the River Journey building, where the pathway is a wood boardwalk.  It's a bit bumpy, and there were a couple of places where I needed an extra push.  Overall, though, we were very impressed at how easy the buildings are to navigate.

We parked in the pay lot immediately to the left of the aquarium.  It was a little pricey ($9), but we didn't have to go far to get to the buildings, and there were a number of wheelchair-accessible parking spots.  (We just parked in a regular spot since I've never bothered to get a permit.)

I didn't use the restrooms while there, but I imagine they're as neatly-kept as the rest of the aquarium.  :-)

Here are some photos:

Spiraling pathways

You can reach in and touch the fish

Pretty view from the Ocean Journey building

View from the Ocean Journey building

Another fish-touching area

Touching a stingray!

Butterfly garden room

Penguins

Shark cage

Shark

Jellyfish

The pathway leads underneath one of the tanks

Chattanooga Zoo

My husband and I visited the Chattanooga Zoo on Sunday, June 2, 2013.  We had to dodge rain showers, but there were plenty of indoor exhibits and overhangs to keep us dry.  :-)  On the good side, we had the entire zoo to ourselves for pretty much the whole trip.  :-D

I found the zoo to be wheelchair-friendly, with a few things worth mentioning.

Some of the threshholds were a little difficult to cross with my wheelchair.  A couple of times I found it easier just to stand up, step over the threshhold myself, and then pull my wheelchair on across.  It wasn't much of a problem, but it might be for someone who is unable to stand or walk at all.

The boardwalk with the built-in train tracks is VERY slippery when wet, especially the area where it turns into an arched bridge.  Wheelchair or not, use caution!

The red panda exhibit is questionable as far as wheelchair accessibility.  There was a sign saying there was an elevator, but we couldn't find the location, and there didn't seem to be any attendants nearby.  I finally walked up the 12 or so concrete steps myself, and entered the exhibit.  My husband carried my wheelchair to the top so I could sit down once I was there.  Afterwards, I walked down the second set of steps (wood), which were a little slippery from the rain.  It worked out okay, but I wouldn't have gotten to see the red pandas, turtles, and some birds if I hadn't been able to go up and down the steps on my own.

The cougar exhibit is viewed from a railroad car, and you go up a wood ramp to get into it.  However, the door leading out of the exhibit is very narrow, and there are only narrow steps at the end.  A person in a wheelchair has to go back out the way they came in (down the ramp).

The gift shop has grass(?) mats at the doors, which are somewhat difficult to roll over, but they're manageable.

The petting zoo has a gravel surface, and is very difficult to access via a wheelchair when the ground is wet.  I kept sinking in the gravels, making it impossible to roll.  It might be better on a day when the ground is dry. Also, the camel-riding area (closed when we were there due to the rain) appeared to be only accessible via 4-5 steps that you climb to get onto the camel, so I'm not sure if that would be do-able for a wheelchair-bound person.

The restrooms do have a wheelchair-accessible stall.  When we visited, the restrooms needed a bit of TLC, and I just used a regular stall due to the fact that the wheelchair stall had toilet paper hanging out of the toilet (eeeww!).  But that's not surprising for a busy restroom, I suppose.

Other than those things, the zoo was very wheelchair-friendly, with the paths being either paved, cobblestones, or boardwalks.  Here are some photos I snapped along the way:

Cobblestone area near the entrance/exit

The cobblestones change over to a regular sidewalk

On the sidewalk

Path to the gorilla exhibit

Upstairs at the red panda exhibit

Upstairs at the red panda exhibit

Upstairs at the red panda exhibit

Petting zoo with the gravel surface

Petting zoo with the gravel surface

Snow leopard

Servel cat

Chattanooga Nature Center & Arboretum / Reflection Riding

On our 5/25/13 visit, I found that the Chattanooga Nature Center / Reflection Riding was very wheelchair-accessible, however, an important part of the area was closed off due to the pathway being damaged (unsure of the reason, or the repair schedule).

My husband and I enjoyed driving around the Reflection Riding loop, which is around 3 miles.  It is a narrow gravel road.  It's hilly and a bit washed out in a few areas, so a wheelchair wouldn't be able to navigate those sections of the road.  I have a recumbent trike, and although I'm sure I could manage the flatter areas okay, I seriously doubt I could travel on the hilly and washed out areas.  That said, it's a beautiful drive via a car or truck, and you can roll down the windows to take photos and breathe in the fresh air.  You can also stop at several pull-offs along the way.  Here are some photos of the driving loop:

There is an ADA-accessible trail, which I was thrilled to find.  It starts out with slightly rough, but manageable, pavement, then turns into a wooden boardwalk as it goes over a swampy area.  It has a gentle slope.  Over the swampy area, there is a very cool treehouse that has a huge tree growing right in the center of it.  You can enter the treehouse and look around inside it without having to leave your wheelchair.  On past the treehouse is the canoe rental area, but that's as far as you can currently go.  Unfortunately, the path continues on to the building where the animals are kept, and it's currently closed off due to damage of some kind.  There is another path in the parking area that leads to the animal building, but it's made of wood chips and is not easily wheelchair-accessible.  The gentleman in the office said that we were welcome to try to get my wheelchair down that path, but it would have been very difficult, if not impossible.  That was pretty disappointing.  I have sent a message via Facebook, inquiring when the ADA trail will be re-opened.  Here are some photos of the open portion of the ADA trail, and the treehouse, which is accessible.

Above: Ramp down to the canoe boarding area. It appears to be accessible, but it is very steep.

We paid for a yearly membership, which means that we can access the park earlier in the mornings and later in the evenings than regular guests.  However, this means that we would have to park outside the closed gate, and the road that leads into the regular parking area goes steeply downhill as soon as you pass through the gate.  It would take a lot of strength, and a strong assistant, to navigate a wheelchair up and down this hill.  Personally, I'd be afraid to try it.  But as long as you come when the park is open, you'll be able to park in the regular parking area.

Even with the partially-closed ADA trail, I still feel that the yearly membership fee was pretty much worth it just to be able to drive around Reflection Riding Loop, and once the ADA trail is fixed, it will definitely be worth it.  I am going to try to contact them and see if they have a timeframe for repairing the trail.

As of the date of this post, the current admission fee is $10 a person (non-member) for a day pass, and it's $50 for a yearly membership (2 people), but you can check their prices on their website below.

http://www.chattanooganaturecenter.org/www

Wheelchair Fishing In The Chattanooga Area

I have found that the following fishing locations are wheelchair-friendly.  This list will be amended as I find new locations to visit.  As always, please feel free to comment if you know of any other suitable places to fish.

Chattanooga Riverwalk, at the entrance near Chattanooga State on Amnicola Highway.

1. There is a wheelchair parking area near the pavilion (where the ice cream shop is), and a nearby paved pathway leads down to one of the docks.  The path is a bit steep, but is manageable.  The dock sits fairly high above the water; perhaps 8-10', which I personally found a bit awkward for fishing.  The dock and pathway both have rails for safety.
2. There is a second wheelchair-accessible dock a little further down, beside the boat launching area.  It is also paved, but there are no rails.  The pathway leads to a floating wood dock that sits just a couple of feet above the water.  I found this area to be more convenient for fishing, however, the nearby boat ramp can be busy, which can affect the success of fishing.  You may have better luck going during less-busy times.

Why I Created This Blog

I fell in the shower several years ago, and messed up the ligaments in my left knee.  As a result, my knee is very weak, and although I can stand, walk, and climb a few stairs, I cannot do any of these these for more than a few minutes at a time.  For long distance walking, I must use a wheelchair.

I've lived in the Chattanooga area my entire life, but haven't visited some of the newer attractions.  This year for vacation, my husband and I have decided to spend some time exploring things around town.  However, I've been unable to find very much information about wheelchair accessibility online, resulting in many, many e-mails to the various attractions to try to determine which ones I'm able to do.

I wanted to post this information in order to try to help out other folks who may be in similar circumstances, and to post my personal experiences as we visit the various attractions.  I hope this blog is beneficial, and that my fellow wheelchair travelers find it useful.

Feel free to post comments about your own experiences.