Do a search for Wheelchair accessable caches?

[geoklutch]

I'm in a wheelchair and I love looking for geocaches, but this is something I usually cannot do on my own as most all caches are NOT wheelchair accessible. Is there a way to do a search that will show me wheelchair accessible caches in an area?

[+niraD]

The Wheelchair Accessibility page in the Help Center has all the information that I was going to mention, so I'll just refer you to it.

[+Ben0w]

I'd suggest www.handicaching.com for more detailed rating systems regarding handicapped cachers.

[+Bear and Ragged]

Both the above are good suggestions!

 

However, not all cache setters use the Wheelchair Accessible attribute, and very few cachers also rate their caches, or caches they have found, on Handicaching...

 

Best option is low Diff/Terr rating, and use a bit of 'Common Sense' when you read the cache page/check the map.

(And be prepared to not be able to reach a few.)

[+Twentse Mug]

Every cache with one star terrain rating is wheelchair accessible. See also http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=82. Quote: "Handicapped accessible

Terrain is likely to be paved, is relatively flat, and less than a ½ mile hike is required."

[cezanne]

Every cache with one star terrain rating is wheelchair accessible.

 

Of course that's not true and moreover what people who are bound to a wheelchair can do varies a lot from person to person depending on their handicaps.

Moreover, I guess that the real question is which geocaches can be logged by the OP without any external help and that includes more than flat, paved terrain.

What is for example often overlooked is the height of the hideout - neither too low nor too high works for those who cannot just leave the chair and get back into it on their

own. There are so many issues to take into account and the majority of 1* caches I come across are not suitable for the average person bound to a wheelchair and even less for

those with severe handicaps. It is not uncommon that I comment on the 1* rating of such caches, but hardly any of the cache owner who own wrongly rated caches cares.

Edited October 1, 2014 by cezanne

[+Semper Questio]

When I was wheelchair bound I tried very hard to find caches I could do. In the course of that exercise, I learned...

 

1. Many T1 caches were rated as being wheelchair friendly only for the cache location itself but getting there was a different matter.
   
2. Many T1 caches were only rated based on getting to them. Once I got there, reaching them from a wheelchair was impossible without help.
   
3. Many T1 caches were in no way wheelchair friendly. I came across T1's that should have been rated much, MUCH higher.
   
4. The wheelchair attribute was almost completely useless. Either hiders did not use it or used it when they should not (see the T1 scenarios above). I even came across high terrain series caches that used the wheelchair attribute just so it would be easier to select all of the caches in a series in PQs.
   

 

I ultimately had to...

1. Get a list of all caches with T1, excluding all caches with the "no wheelchair" attribute
   
2. Get a list of all caches with the wheelchair attribute
   
3. Combine the 2 lists.
   
4. Go through the combined list manually, reiewing the cache description and logs, to remove any caches that I could tell, or I suspected, were beyond my abilities.
   

 

I would like to think that things are better now, but I suspect they aren't.

 

Good luck.

[+jellis]

Every cache with one star terrain rating is wheelchair accessible.

 

Of course that's not true and moreover what people who are bound to a wheelchair can do varies a lot from person to person depending on their handicaps.

Moreover, I guess that the real question is which geocaches can be logged by the OP without any external help and that includes more than flat, paved terrain.

What is for example often overlooked is the height of the hideout - neither too low nor too high works for those who cannot just leave the chair and get back into it on their

own. There are so many issues to take into account and the majority of 1* caches I come across are not suitable for the average person bound to a wheelchair and even less for

those with severe handicaps. It is not uncommon that I comment on the 1* rating of such caches, but hardly any of the cache owner who own wrongly rated caches cares.

Many old caches were under rated. I've ran into many newbie ones that were also under or over rated.