Freya McGregor, an Australia native and founder of Access Birding, a consulting and training service, stopped by Montgomery County last week to help make local trails better for everybody, writes Jason Nark for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

McGregor spent a week working with the nonprofit Wissahickon Trails to gauge how various groups of people experience its trail system, including people with physical disabilities and mental illness.

Wissahickon Trails recently received a $70,500 grant from Montgomery County to improve trail accessibility. The funding is part of the American Rescue Plan Act and will help with a variety of improvements.

“At the end of the day, our hope is that anyone who wants to use our trails can go on our website and figure out where they can go,” said Gail Farmer, executive director of Wissahickon Trails.

McGregor is looking for things that seem commonplace to able-bodied hikers such as surface type, trail width, cyclists, and the trail’s remoteness, among other things.

“There are some trails that are never going to be 1,000% accessible,” she said. “That’s not really the point of my work, though. If we can make some things better, that’s great.”

Read more about the visit and Wissahickon Trails in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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