Zion becomes first national park to get all-terrain wheelchair for public use

SPRINGDALE, Washington County — Zion National Park just became the first national park to own accessibility equipment available for public use, and it recently shared that news with the world.

"We're excited to announce the launch of a new all-terrain wheelchair lending program designed to expand trail access for visitors with disabilities, mobility challenges, or injuries," a post on the park's social media page read.

{#Extreme Motus Zion}

The chair that the park has available for visitors to use is the Extreme Motus all-terrain wheelchair, based out of Payson. Kenny Jardine, hief business development officer for Extreme Motus, told KSL that this has been "a long time coming."

"It's been almost two years in the making," Jardine said. "Zion actually got the chair in July of last year from a donor through a nonprofit organization called To Live For, who was able to come in and donate the money to be able to make this possible.

"While working through all the process of getting it listed on the NPS website, we also found that Zion National Park is the first one to be the sole owners of any type of accessibility equipment in a national park in the entire U.S.," he added. "Other national parks have accessibility equipment, but it's owned by a nonprofit. Zion is the first one to actually own and put accessibility equipment in their park that they maintain."

Co-founder of Extreme Motus Ryan Grassley has been taking best friend Sam Durst, who has cerebral palsy, on adventures with the all-terrain wheelchair for the past seven years. According to Grassley, the two have been to all but one of the state's national parks together.

"I've taken Sam to all the national parks but Canyonlands (shame on us)," he said. "We've hiked Delicate Arch. We've gone to Bryce and Capitol Reef. We've hiked the Narrows at Zion. What we're trying to do is make the outdoors more accessible."

KSL first spoke to Grassley back in April of 2024, when he and Durst were at Capitol Hill championing the Extreme Motus to be available at each of the state's national parks. With it now having become a reality, he said many experiences have confirmed to him that "having that equipment available was 100% the right thing to do."

"When Kenny, Sam and I went to Zion to deliver the chair last year, the coolest thing happened," Grassley recalled. "We were standing in front of the visitor center and telling the rangers how to use the chair, and a family walked by. They had a child that used a wheelchair, and the mom was like, 'What is happening right now?' We explained what we were doing, and the mom just started crying. It became immediately clear that having that equipment available was 100% the right thing to do."

Jardine said that the chair at Zion is the first of many more to come, adding that the other four national parks in the state are "also making steps to do this."

"We know that it means a lot to the people who visit the parks," he said.

For now, there is one Extreme Motus wheelchair available for free on a first-come, first-serve basis at the Zion Canyon Visitor Center, and reservations are not being taken at this time.

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