Five National Parks Just Added Free All-Terrain Wheelchairs for Visitors to Use Daily

All five of Utah’s national parks now have all-terrain wheelchairs that visitors can borrow for free. The National Park Service announced the addition on October 8, 2026.

Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands and Arches each have at least one chair available. Capitol Reef has two, according to the park’s website.

These aren’t motorized wheelchairs, so someone else has to push the person riding in them. They have three large, soft wheels that can handle rocks, sand and even steps along trails.

The chairs also have disc brakes that allow the person pushing to make sharp turns, stop or lock the wheels in place. The NPS said private donors, park funding and groups like the Zion Forever Project and Friends of Arches and Canyonlands Parks helped pay for them.

Where Can Visitors Use the Wheelchairs?

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Not every trail is an option, as some are too narrow or steep for the chairs. Each park has its own recommendations for where visitors can take them.

At Capitol Reef, the chairs can be used on Grand Wash and Capitol Gorge, although the rocky ground may require a second person to help push. The park also lists the Fremont River Trail and Fruita Orchards, among other places.

Arches recommends four trails, including Landscape Arch, Double Arch and Skyline Arch. The park’s accessibility page says these trails are relatively flat, under two miles long and generally manageable with one person pushing.

Canyonlands keeps its wheelchair at the Island in the Sky Visitor Center. Visitors can take it on trails to Mesa Arch, White Rim Overlook and Murphy Point, but certain routes, including Syncline Trail, are off-limits.

At Zion, the Pa’rus Trail, Riverside Walk, and Lower Emerald Pools are recommended options. You can’t take chairs into the Narrows or across the chains section of Angels Landing.

Bryce Canyon also has a chair available at its visitor center. The park shows it being used on the Rim Trail near Bryce Point, but visitors should check with a ranger about other routes.

How to Borrow an All-Terrain Wheelchair

The chairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and none of the five parks currently accepts advance reservations.

Visitors can check out a chair at the designated visitor center. Both the person using the chair and the assistant must sign a waiver, and either person must provide identification and proof of insurance. A ranger will provide a brief demonstration and review the approved trails before visitors take the chair out.

Visitors must return the chairs before the visitor center closes that day. They also have a maximum rider weight of 250 pounds and a maximum rider height of six feet.

There are a few other things to know, depending on the park. At Zion and Bryce Canyon, the chairs are too long to fit on park shuttles, so rangers provide accessibility passes that allow visitors to drive to designated trailhead parking areas.