Chicot State Park, also known the largest park in Louisiana is home to a new wheelchair for visitors.
Chicot is one of seven other parks across the state that have been equipped with an all-terrain wheelchair, to aid those with mobility issues.
Kim Hollier is a Park Ranger with more than two decades of experiences at Chicot State Park.
Hollier said while the park already has two trails for conventional wheelchairs, the all-terrain wheelchair is designed to help people with disabilities explore more.
"[Chicot] is home to the largest trail in the state, which is the 19-mile trail that goes all the way around the lake," Hollier said.
When you combine the 19-mile trail and the five-mile trail at the arboretum, hikers can visit nearly 25 miles at Chicot State Park.
Hollier said over the years, she's noticed a growing need for these kinds of resources.
"Once or twice a month we'll have someone on a wheelchair or someone who has mobility issues that will ask if they can just go a short distance and come back," Hollier said.
With the help of the new all-terrain track wheelchair, Brandon Burris, Director of Louisiana State Parks said everyone can enjoy the outdoor trails.
"The chairs are pretty much a tank-track system on a service chair," Burris said. "We picked out a chair that has the capacity to have both left and right-hand controls because through learning about this, we learned people have different needs."
Chicot State Park is open daily between 6 and 10 and the all-terrain track wheelchair is available upon request.
