Adventures for the Physically Challenged

A Wheelchair Trail to the National Zoo

by Nancy and David Crozier


Hi. We're Nancy and David Crozier. Welcome to the National Zoological Park. Join us on our favorite walk as we visit the National Zoo together.

We visit the Zoo for the same reasons as everyone else: to marvel at the wildlife, to escape from the city and traffic, and to enjoy the company of family and friends. For us, a trip to the Zoo is a quick adventure, a safe safari ... and about the right dose of "roughing it" for one afternoon.

We also know-firsthand-how the trip can be tiring for people with physical challenges and limitations. Even with one of the Zoo's wheelchairs, which we always borrow, the hills and valleys can be tough going. That's why we volunteered to develop this trail for Zoo visitors in wheelchairs (and their escorts!), visitors pushing strollers, using canes or crutches, and those who simply don't get around as easily as they used to. By following our personal route, you too can experience the best of the National Zoo.

Here are some important tips to consider before we get started.

Important Tips

A visit to the Zoo can be very different at different times of the year. In spring and summer, the Zoo teems with visitors from across the United States and around the world. In fall and winter fewer people are here, and you can maneuver more easily inside the Small Mammal House, Reptile House, and Invertebrate Exhibit. Whenever you visit, how-ever, we recommend you spend much of your time outdoors to experience that wonderful sense of freedom it gives you.

Because the Zoo is built on a long, often steep hill, our trip goes one way, from the highest point to the lowest.

If you parked at Panda Plaza, we strongly recommend that when you reach the bottom of the hill, an able-bodied member of your party return to your vehicle and drive down to pick you up.


When you borrow a wheelchair at the front desk of the Education Building, ask the attendant to have your driver's license (or cash deposit) sent down to the Lion-Tiger Information Station. You can then return your wheelchair down there. But you must ask in advance.

Get Rollin'!


Your tour starts opposite the entrance of the Education Building. Follow the Valley Trail (blue signs) for the Bird House. Going downhill on your left you'll see the dorcas gazelles, and on the right the distinctive bongos (blue signpost #6). Although the bongo is the largest forest antelope, its streamlined horns and body enable it to move easily through dense forests. We're rollin' now!

Continue the Valley Trail toward the Wetlands. At the intersection, stay to the right. Steer clear of the Valley Trail to the left that goes toward the beavers and wolves. This steep hill can be treacherous rolling down and tough (particularly on your escort) coming back up.



To the Wetlands!

Onto the boardwalk (blue signpost #5)! You're entering a typical wetlands marsh, one of the earth's most valuable ecosystems. It teems with unusual birds, plants, and amphibians. How many different species of birds can you spot? (Be careful! The boardwalk may be a little difficult for anyone with crutches or a cane. Watch your footing on the planks.)


Can you see the bald eagle in the flight cage to the right? You may also see some of the Zoo's other "visitors"-wild night herons, nuthatches, warblers, and mourning doves are commonly seen around the Zoo, and a lucky visitor might even spot a belted kingfisher or a red-tailed hawk.

Turn left at the end of the boardwalk, and follow the path around the back of the Bird House (blue signpost #4).

A Quiet Place


As you round the corner, you may feel a fresh breeze coming up from Rock Creek Park. It's usually peaceful back here. This is one of our favorite places.

All along on your right are birds as unusual as the marabou ~ as elegant as the secretary bird, and as beautiful as the pink flamingos. Spend some time watching the flamingos. Do you wonder if their knees get sore? Maybe they stand on one leg to rest the other!

Follow the bird trail around to the right and into the Bird House. This building can be crowded, so you may want to avoid it by turning left just inside the door, and returning to the Wetlands area. If it is not crowded, you may enjoy spending some time at the exhibits on the first level.

In the central section, you can become part of the indoor flight room with birds flying all around you. Enter this room at the door near the kiwi. Then return to the boardwalk to retrace your route through the Wetlands.

At the end of the boardwalk, veer slightly to the right on the Valley Trail and head toward the Australian Pavilion and the Panda House. You'll be traveling up a gradual incline, so take your time, and check out the kangaroos and emus. Give some words of encouragement to your wheelchair escort! Phew!




Pandas and More

Now let's visit the Australia Pavilion (blue signpost #7). This area is being developed and may be closed occasionally, but one day will feature tree kangaroos, brush turkeys, small wallabies, and fish from the Great Barrier Reef. (If Australia is closed, retrace your path back up to the E lucation Building-a hard climb up the hill. Then start your trail straight down to Panda Plaza and the Giant Panda House.)

As you continue through this building, you'll come to one of the Zoo's most famous attractions: Hsing-Hsing, a gift of the People's Republic of China in 1972. This giant panda has won the hearts of Washingtonians and the nation (red signpost #6). Depending on the weather, he may be inside or outside.



If the Hsing-Hsing is inside, the building can be crowded. If it is, stay to the left in the House. Along this wall is a new exhibit about giant pandas, and about Hsing-Hsing and his companion, Ling-Ling, who died December 30, 1992. You might enjoy learning about their 20 years at the Zoo, how scientists are studying pandas in the zoo and in the wild, and much more. Then continue up the ramp to Panda Plaza, the main hub of the Zoo.



This is a great chance to relax, have a soft drink, and thank the person pushing your wheelchair! Accessible restrooms are also available in this area.

You'll stay on and near Olmsted Walk for the rest of the wheelchair trail. It's downhill most of the way!

The Giant Mammals

When you're ready to move on, walk over to the Bactrian camels. This two-humped species is from the cold deserts of Asia. In the winter they grow shaggy, wool-like hair that falls off their bodies in great heavy clumps in the spring.

If the giraffes and elephants are outdoors, you should be able to see them when you're standing near the camels. Are Zoo keepers with the elephants?

Elephants are strong, social, and intelligent. Every morning keepers demonstrate the elephants' abilities to visitors, and volunteer narrators explain why the animals are trained-to keep them active physically and mentally, and to make them easier to handle during medical treatment, for example.

If the giant pandas are outside, you may want to detour slightly to see them. The pandas are just behind you when you're facing the elephants. Then return to the elephants and head toward the hippos and rhinos (red signpost #8) on your left. You'll come back to Olmsted Walk at the American bison (red signpost #10).

Now, be prepared to take a quick detour to your right-just before the Pop Stop. You will be heading toward the golden lion tamarins (blue signpost #11) and another quiet, shady spot.


Up in the Trees!

During the spring, summer, and fall, you're likely to see free-ranging golden lion tamarins up in the trees. Fewer than 450 golden lion tamarins are left in the dwindling coastal rainforest of Brazil.


Scientists are helping some zoo-born tamarins learn how to live in the wild so that they can be returned to the rainforest. They're not caged or restricted here, so why don't they leave? Simple! Because their nestbox and their food are here. Why would they go anywhere else?

Head back the way you came. Turn right on Olmsted Walk, past the Small Mammal House. During busy times at the Zoo this building is usually crowded and wheelchair access may be difficult. We recommend that you continue to the Great Ape House (red signpost #14), ahead on the left. Although the treat for us in being at the Zoo is enhanced by being outside, this is another of our favorite spots. Aisles in this building are comfortably wide.

Not Just Good, but Great Apes

Don't miss the great apes-the gorillas and orangutans. These apes are two of our closest relatives on earth. Do they seem to behave in any ways that are familiar to you? Or do they seem to be very different from you? Continue through the Great Ape House. You may wish to turn left outside the exit to see if any gorillas are outside.

Return to Olmsted Walk and continue down the hill. You will pass the Reptile Discovery Center and the Invertebrate Exhibit. Like the Small Mammal House, these exhibits can be difficult to negotiate when they are crowded-as they often are in the spring and summer.

Turn left toward the Monkey House (red signpost #19). This House is the oldest building in the Zoo--it was built in 1907 as a small mammal house. That's why you can see sculptures of foxes and small cats on the roof.

In early 1993, the Monkey House will close. When it opens again, in about two years, it will be an extraordinary-even unique-exhibit exploring the subject of animal thinking.

Follow the path around the back of the Monkey House to see leopards and servals. At the end of this path, you'll find yourself at the biggest cats-lions and tigers (red signpost #21).


Lion-Tiger Hill

Just 10,000 years ago--a speck of time in the history of man and earth-lions roamed freely in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas from Alaska to Peni, perhaps even right here along Rock Creek. Yet lions today range only in sub-Saharan Africa and one area in India. The Asian subspecies is endangered.

Unlike lions, which live in prides on open plains, tigers live alone and hunt in forests and tall-grass lands. Only five of the eight tiger subspecies survive, and all these are endangered. If you're lucky, you'll see the Sumatran tiger in a playful mood-perhaps even swimming.

Bears Be Here

If you have the energy, visit Monkey Island (red signpost #22), and the bears (red signpost #24). But you'll have to retrace your steps back to Olmsted Walk to avoid the steep Valley Trail. If you choose not to go to the bears, continue downhill and rest at the Mane Restaurant (red signpost #28) while your companion fetches the car!

You can return the wheelchair at the Lion-Tiger Information Station on Olmsted Walk just below the Mane Restaurant. And if you requested it in advance, your driver's license (or cash deposit) will be here, too.


Your adventure is complete!

Come back again soon!


Like many people, Nancy and David Crozier enjoy visiting the National Zoo. But unlike many, Nancy is post-polio. Despite this condition, she did not experience any disability until a skiing accident in 1987 resulted in a permanent lack of strength in her legs. Nancy and David Crozier both work for the American Red Cross.




Department of Exhibit Interpretation

National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution

Washington, DC 20008-2598

1993

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