Accessible Trails in Alabama

 Not All Accessible Trails Found Below are ADA Compliant

1. Audubon Bird Sanctuary

2. Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge

3. Cheaha Mountain

4. Little River National Preserve

5. Open Pond Trail

6. Russell Cave National Monument

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Accessible Hiking Guide to the Open Pond Trail

Having lived in Florida for 16 years, I had explored many Alabama trails but often found central and northern routes too rocky for pushing Kellisa’s mobility chair, while Gulf Coast trails were frequently too sandy. Hoping to find a more suitable option between those regions, we chose the two-mile Open Pond loop as a promising trail.

Wheelchair Accessible Trails at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge

 

Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge offers one of Alabama's best opportunities to experience protected coastal habitats, with a mix of maritime forest, freshwater wetlands, dunes, and quiet Gulf beaches. The refuge features well-maintained boardwalks, wide crushed-surface paths, shaded pine forest, scenic overlooks, and elevated viewing platforms that make wildlife viewing enjoyable. 

Guide to the Accessible Trails at Audubon Bird Sanctuary

 

The Audubon Bird Sanctuary on Dauphin Island is one of the Gulf Coast's premier birding destinations, protecting more than 160 acres of maritime forest, freshwater wetlands, dunes, and shoreline. The sanctuary is especially famous as a resting place for migratory birds crossing the Gulf of Mexico, making it an outstanding destination during spring and fall migrations.

Visitors experience a diverse mix of coastal habitats, including shaded maritime forest paths, elevated wooden boardwalks crossing wetlands, observation areas overlooking Gaillard Lake, and sandy trails leading toward the Gulf beach. The scenery changes quickly from dense pine and live oak forest to open marshes, dunes, and shoreline, providing excellent wildlife viewing opportunities throughout the walk.

A Wheelchair Accessible Visit to Cheaha Mountain

Cheaha Mountain, at 2,407 feet (734 m), is the highest natural point in Alabama and the centerpiece of Cheaha State Park. Surrounded by the forests of Talladega NationalForest, it offers sweeping mountain views, historic stone structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, and a variety of hiking opportunities.

Kellisa enjoyed the natural beauty and the ease of reaching Alabama's highest point at the southern end of the Appalachian foothills. The iconic stone observation tower and forested landscape emphasizes that this is a destination where visitors can experience impressive mountain scenery with minimal effort.

An Accessible Visit to Russell Cave National Monument

Russell Cave National Monument offers a fascinating blend of natural beauty and human history, preserving one of the most significant prehistoric archaeological sites in the southeastern United States. Our trip photos emphasize both the peaceful forest setting and the impressive cave entrance, showing that this national monument is as much about experiencing history as it is enjoying outdoors. Our visit centers on an easy walk through the woods to a remarkable cave shelter where people lived seasonally for thousands of years.

An Accessible Visit to Little River Canyon National Preserve

 Little River Canyon National Preserve

Alabama

November 2010

Egypt's Path (2010 to 2020) - Part XV

 

We close out this series of posts with a final collection of Egypt between 2010 and 2020. The following pictures capture dozens of everyday moments and special occasions that together tell the story of an active, adventurous, and deeply loved child. When viewed together, all are classic “Egypt.” 

Egypt is a joyful, confident, and an endlessly curious young girl whose personality shines through every stage of childhood.  Her smile is one of the most consistent features throughout the collection. Whether she is dressed casually, celebrating holidays, traveling, playing outdoors, posing with family, or simply enjoying childhood, she is genuinely happy and comfortable in front of the camera. The images reveal a girl who embraces new experiences with enthusiasm and confidence.

Egypt's Path (2010 to 2020) - Part XIV

 

Egypt is someone who has always been fascinated by animals, whether they are wild, dangerous, gentle, or simply unusual. Rather than watching wildlife from a distance, she is happiest when she can experience it up close. Throughout the photos, Egypt is confident, curious, and eager to learn about the creatures she encounters. 

From standing near wild alligators and crocodiles in Everglades National Park to observing majestic elk walking through her campsite in Yellowstone National Park, Egypt embraces every opportunity to experience nature firsthand. The pictures also show her comfort with snakes—even welcoming them into her living room—demonstrating that fear rarely gets in the way of her curiosity. Visits to zoos, aquariums, wildlife parks, and nature centers add to an impressive collection of encounters with animals from around the United States.

Egypt's Path (2010 to 2020) - Part XIII

March 2013

Being born and growing up in Florida meant that Egypt’s winters weren’t full of cold and snow. Most Floridians are happy about this fact, but not Egypt. She wanted to see and play in snow so bad, that I booked a trip to the northern reaches of the Midwest so Egypt could really experience “winter”.

Egypt could barely contain her excitement as we traveled to Minneapolis. She never moved so fast through an airport and as soon as Egypt saw a door to the outside, she took off running. Before I knew it, she was around a corner and in the middle of a pile of snow with the biggest smile her little face could make. The snow and cold was everything and more than she anticipated.

Egypt's Path (2010 to 2020) - Part XII

The photos in this installment continue to portray Egypt as an energetic, adventurous, and well-rounded young girl who eagerly embraces new experiences. Throughout the collection, she appears engaged in a variety of sports and outdoor activities, reflecting on her willingness to challenge herself whether it's trying rock climbing, playing golf, or spending time on hiking trails. The images also highlight her enthusiasm for sports as a fan, frequently showing her proudly wearing apparel supporting her favorite teams. While the Jacksonville Jaguars are clearly her favorite NFL team, she also enjoys cheering for local Northern California teams including the Sacramento Kings, San Francisco Giants, and San Jose Sharks. The collection also reflects memorable championship moments, with Egypt supporting the Chicago Cubs during their historic 2016 World Series championship and the Chicago Blackhawks during their Stanley Cup-winning seasons. Together, the photos present Egypt as curious, athletic, adventurous, and always excited to explore new activities while sharing her passion for sports.

Egypt's Path (2010 to 2020) - Part XI

 

The many looks of Egypt

Egypt's appearance changed constantly between ages 2010 and 2020, reflecting her energetic personality and each stage of childhood. She wore everything from tiny toddler curls and short natural styles to longer hair with braids, twists, ponytails, puffs, buns, beads, barrettes, colorful bows, and headbands. At different times her hair was neatly styled for school or special occasions, while other photos captured a carefree, windblown look during family adventures. As she grew older, her hairstyles became more varied and expressive, matching her growing confidence and individuality. Despite the many changes in length and style, her bright smile, expressive eyes, and playful spirit remained unmistakable throughout the decade, making it easy to see the same adventurous little girl evolving into a confident preteen.

Egypt's Path (2010 to 2020) - Part X

 

Disney Adventures

and other assorted Characters

Egypt's Path (2010 to 2020) - Part IX

 

Egypt has crossed paths with celebrities of varying degrees over the years, including some of her favorite singers at the time. 

MattyB

Houston, TX

February 11, 2018

Egypt's Path (2010 to 2020) - Part VIII

 

Egypt Visited and Hiked at Least One Trail in all 50 United States by her 8^th Birthday

Alabama

Egypt's Path (2010 to 2020) - VII

 

Egypt and Kellisa

Sisters Forever

Egypt and Kellisa have a close, affectionate, and enduring sisterly relationship. The selection of images consistently portrays them as they are in everyday life, enjoying each other's company across many years and stages of childhood.

Egypt's Path (2010 to 2020) - Part VI

 

Egypt Loves the Stage

Egypt's Path (2010 to 2020) - Part V

 

Early Art Projects

Shark Drawing

Sault Ste. Marie, ONT Canada

3 years, 4 months

Egypt's Path (2010 to 2020) - Part IV

Egypt ran away from us the first time she saw a pool and jumped right in the water. I took off right behind her and her head had already emerged with a gigantic ear to ear grin. She was a natural in the water. Since that day, Egypt has never passed up an opportunity to get wet- ice-cold water, wearing clothes, it doesn’t matter, she never hesitates to jump. I guess that’s not entirely true, spending her first 6 ½ years in Florida, Egypt always asked, “Do alligators live in this water?” before jumping in natural bodies of water.

Egypt's Path (2010 to 2020) - Part III

 Adoption Day

January 2011

Egypt's Path (2010 to 2020) - Part II

 November - December 2010

Dancing at Home

Egypt's Path (2010 to 2020) - Part I

Egypt's  Path  (2010 to 2020) - Part II

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2017 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

Kellisa Keeps Her Side  and Reaches 18 

After moving across the country in 2016 and finishing our quest to hike in all 50 states, 2017 was still a year filled with many adventures  and fun times.

 

The year started out with some of Kellisa's hiking adventures featured in the new book, families on foot. We also went to Yosemite National Park for the first time, and the girls enjoyed Disney on Ice in Sacramento. Our family vacation for the year was a week in the Pacific Northwest where we visited several national parks and hiked with a large group of wheelchairs. Kellisa really enjoyed not being the only one in a chair on a trail.

 

2016 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

Our family would relocate from Jacksonville, FL to Sacramento, CA in 2016 for my job. Our plan to move at the end of the kid's school year was changed when Lisa accepted a position that started in mid-January. 

 

After spending many New Year's Days exploring the Okefenokee Swamp, we spent the first day of 2016 at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.

 

We were driving Lisa's van to California over the long holiday weekend and chose a route that went through Oklahoma so Egypt could claim a new state visited and knock off another state that both girls hiked together.

 

2015 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

The little girl who wasn't supposed to survive more than a few hours at most turned 16-years-old in May 2015. Kellisa endured 22 surgeries, countless seizures, and too many medical appointments and tests to count or even make an educated guess before arriving at her milestone birthday. 

 

Left & Middle- Blue Springs State Park

Right- Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Kellisa's first wilderness experience happened on January 1, 2000, with a hike while attached to Lisa in a baby carrier at Blue Springs State Park, FL. 15 years later, to the day, we returned to the park for our first outdoor excursion of the year. We stopped at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge the following day on our drive back home.

2014 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

 

Lisa was in the final stretch of completing her master’s degree and needed as much peace and quiet in the house as possible. I knew it would be easier to travel with both girls than to try and keep them quiet in the house. 

 

Egypt not only wanted to join her sister on her adventures, but it had become clear that Egypt also shared the same passion for travel, hiking, camping, and wildlife observations.

 

2013 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

After Kellisa's cancer scare at the end of 2012, I wanted 2013 to be a big year for Kellisa. I had the idea of hiking a trail in all 50 states in one year and decided to make an attempt at that goal. 

 

We started with a 25K race across the desert in Big Bend National Park in January. Kellisa was the first wheelchair finisher in the history of the race. 

 

2012 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

 After three surgeries in 2011, Kellisa was able to go another year without a surgery. 

 

We started the year off on the 1st of January with a day trip to the Okefenokee Swamp followed by a few local hikes, and Kellisa's first driving lesson in a golf cart.

 

Top Left- Chasing Egypt (Okefenokee Swamp)   Top Right- Julington-Durbin, Jacksonville, FL   Bottom- Golf cart driving lessons, Peace River, FL

 

2011 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

 The year started off on a high note as Egypt’s adoption was finalized in January. 

2010 - Part II (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

Lisa received an unexpected phone call in October. “We know you’re only interested in school age children, but would you be interested in a 16-month-old girl?” 

 

They needed an answer immediately. I was out of town on business when Lisa called. Without hesitation or deep discussion, we agreed that we were interested. I was still out of town the next night when Lisa called and asked me, “Where can I find a hammer?”

 

Lisa needed the hammer to build our crib, just in case we were chosen as the family for this little girl. Instead of saying, “You don’t need a hammer to build the crib,” I told Lisa where to find a hammer. I also figured we had zero chance of getting the girl.

  

2010 - Part I (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

 We continued submitting on children into the new year without any success. We were lucky if we received an automatic email reply with the subject, "Your Submittal Has Been Received". 

 

Our first trip of the year was during Kellisa's spring break a week after I completed my 2nd Bataan Memorial Death March. The first weekend was also Easter, so we spent a few days in Texas visiting family before Lisa went home and Kellisa and headed for a week in the Southwest. While in Texas, we went for a nice hike at Brazos Bend State Park where we enjoyed its abundant birds and alligators.

 

2009 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

 

The Okefenokee Swamp - the Land of Trembling Earth.

 

One of our all-time favorite places to explore and we tried to start each year off with a visit. January 1, 2009, was no different and it would set the pace for what would become Kellisa's most adventurous year by far. 

 

Kellisa had outgrown even the largest baby jog strollers, and we broke two frames on a jog stroller made for special needs children. We needed a new solution and after many hours of research, we purchased a WIKE. The chair looks awesome and offers a ton of weather protection; however, it is not built for rugged trails. We still have it and it has its uses; it's just not an all-around mobility device for our needs.

 

Kellisa's 27th Birthday

May 23, 2026

 

Kellisa turned 27 years old today. We let her sleep in a little and ended up going out for a movie and dinner. Everyone enjoyed the new movie, Michael, about Michael Jackson. Instead of cake, we lived it up at  an ice cream shop on our way home where we sang Happy Birthday to Kellisa. Once home, Kellisa opened her cards and presents before spending the rest of the evening watching TV with her family in the living room.

 

Not bad for the 25 week micro-preemie.

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2008 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

Kellisa went another calendar year without surgery.  

 

Hannah Montana came to Jacksonville in January. The concert sold out in minutes before we were able to buy tickets. We even tried to buy accessible tickets without success. I couldn’t pull the trigger to buy three tickets together that were selling for thousands online. It was breaking my heart that I didn’t have tickets for Kellisa. 

2007 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

 

FINALLY!  

2007 was the first calendar year that passed without Kellisa having to endure surgery.

 

Kellisa really started to thrive with her newfound medical stability. She started taking dance lessons and it was obvious from the start that Kellisa has the heart of a dancer. Kellisa danced in her first recital, and she garnered the loudest cheers from the audience during the encore.

 

2006 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

 

2006 started with Kellisa’s 4^th surgery in four months. Both hips were dislocated again, requiring another surgery of cutting bones, inserting screws, and hardware. It was followed with the same six brutal weeks of recovery.

 

After 18 months without a trip or trail, I was eager to get Kellisa back outside. I wanted to push our limits and see what we could do on trails. I even bought the largest baby jog stroller I could find so we wouldn’t have to use her wheelchair anymore. 

 

2005 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

After a few good hikes in 2004, I thought 2005 would be our year to get out and explore. The outdoors would be ours!

 

I was wrong, very wrong!

 

The year started out with a surgery to remove the hardware from Kellisa hips. The six-week recovery period was as brutal as the original surgery. Thankfully, The Wiggles were there to help Kellisa through another difficult six weeks.

 

2004 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

I was traveling a lot for work and when I had to spend the week before Memorial Day weekend in Atlanta, I invited Lisa and Kellisa to join me. It was a mini vacation. I could join them for lunch and evening swims after dinner. I started researching hikes with wheelchairs. I found a short accessible trail leading to a viewpoint of the highest waterfalls east of the Mississippi only an hour from Atlanta. Finished with work, we drove to the trail on Saturday morning.  I was bursting with excitement. I found a hike I could do with Kellisa. It was a beautiful trail, and I easily pushed Kellisa to the viewpoint. The waterfall was breathtaking. The endless mountain views were inspiring. Kellisa was having fun. This was Kellisa’s first wheeled hike on an accessible trail. I was disappointed beyond belief.

 

2003 - Part II (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

Kellisa wasn’t drinking and her only fluid intake was through the limited food she was eating. There was only so much pudding we could force into her mouth. She wasn’t thriving and required surgery to place a G-tube in the summer. With a G-tube, we would be able to give Kellisa the fluid she needed, and prescription formula would guarantee she would receive all the nutrition required to start growing. Of course, Kellisa suffered from complications that required a second surgery to remove the original G-tube and replace it with another. The doctor had been placing G-tubes for 26 years and Kellisa was the first patient to ever require a second surgery. Kellisa was an expert at confusing doctors.

 

2003 - Part I (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

 

Kellisa was slowly dying before our eyes and no one in the medical community was able to figure out what was wrong. 

 

Kellisa's smile and love of life were gone. She was battling high fevers for weeks. Nothing was bringing her temperature down to normal. She saw a doctor every few days and was in and out of the ER and hospitals without any relief. Once again, Kellisa was baffling the doctors. 

 

From early on, Lisa was convinced it was the shunt. After a CT scan and MRI, we were assured that the shunt was fine. Kellisa's shunt had been in place for a long enough time that a shunt infection was very unlikely. The neurosurgeon didn’t want to tap the shunt to check the cerebral fluid for an infection because if it wasn’t infected, the procedure itself carried a 2% risk of infecting the shunt. 

 

2002 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

Kellisa finally went a year without brain surgery. However, her seizures took a turn for the worse. Kellisa spent five days in the hospital paralyzed after one seizure. The neurologist had no choice but to max out Kellisa’s medications to get the seizures under control. She continued to have seizures, just less frequent and severe with paralysis usually lasting less than an hour.

 

2000 & 2001 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

 

Kellisa was up at midnight so she could welcome the new year, 2000, into her life since it was a major accomplishment and reason to celebrate.

 

Later in the day, we went to Blue Springs State Park about an hour from our home. We saw a sign that swimming was allowed in the spring, but there was also a warning about the possibility of alligators in the water. Florida was still very new to us and the idea of taking a plunge on New Year's Day into 72-degree water was appealing to me. 

 

1999 - Part III (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

We missed a lot during Kellisa's time in the NICU, but Lisa missed one of the moments that moms cherish and remember forever, getting discharged with their newborn. It wasn't the same, but a nurse wheeled Lisa out of the hospital with Kellisa on her lap. Even with oxygen, monitors, and wires everywhere, it was a beautiful moment.

 

The one normal thing we did was order a large wooden stork to be placed on our front lawn for Kellisa’s arrival. It was huge with a large red heart painted with Kellisa’s name and date of birth. When we arrived home, we took celebratory pictures of Kellisa with the stork in front of our house. After the pictures, Lisa carried Kellisa through our front door for the first time. Kellisa was home.

 

1999 - Part II (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

My dad wasn’t known for sharing his feelings. He kept them inside due to a rough childhood without a father. His father showed up unexpected to say “Goodbye” as my dad left for a tour in Vietnam, just in case my dad didn’t make it home alive. This was the last time my dad would see his father and I would never know my paternal grandfather.

 

My dad learned early and often how to keep his feelings from others. I can only remember him telling me that he loved me once and that was while he was hugging me right after Everett passed away. He whispered those three words into my ear. This would be the first of only three times I ever saw my dad cry. The second would be when my mom joined Everett 8 years later. The third was earlier in the day when he realized we lost Kirsten.