Accessibility at Wahiawa Botanical Garden

While I was in Hawaii, we stopped at this botanical garden on our way home from North Shore (If you have never been to Matsumoto Shaved Ice, it's a must-go. Shaved ice is my all-time favorite dessert). This week, I want to review the accessibility of the botanical garden.

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Intro

My first sign that this place was accessible was that an accessible ride-share vehicle was unloading patrons in a disability-placard parking space when I attended. My second sign was the fact that this botanical garden is free. With around 24% of disabled people in the United States living under the poverty line (National Disability Institute, 2020), it is important to have both free and accessible activities for disabled people. I love being in nature for a day, so count me in!

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Seats

This place had so many benches. I usually run into this issue with museums, because apparently, benches ruin artwork. Luckily, benches don't ruin trees, so there were plenty of places to sit. I saw many patrons sitting and enjoying the scenery, which is what I would be doing if I lived here (have I mentioned how pretty all the plants are?) 4.5/5

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Paths

There were paved paths and rock paths. All of the paved paths seemed ADA accessible. However, the rock paths did not seem adequate for a wheelchair. When I used a wheelchair, it was a manual wheelchair, so I do believe my friends and I might have tried, but I am not sure how comfortable that would be. An electric wheelchair would have more difficulty, but the rock paths, from what I saw, led to most of the same places as the paved paths. 4.5/5

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Ramps

I didn't see any stairs, only ramps! The ramps were really steep, but with help I think they could be accessible. When I am alone or with friends and am out, I use the wheelchair ramp instead of the stairs when I have the option. I am having to be more careful after a couple of falls (don't worry, only a couple scrapes), so I appreciate it when I can accommodate myself. However, one bummer is that many of the ramps just ended with signs saying to avoid going further. I think it was construction, but I am not sure. Because of that, the garden was much smaller than I think it normally is, but I can't complain about a free botanical garden. 4.5/5

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Signage

All of the plants had signage, and it was cool to learn about them without having signs be so overpowering. However, there was no braille and no obvious audio guide. Thus, blind viewers could not read about the plants and would need a guide to describe the surroundings. The website does have a self-guided tour, but this could be better advertised when you sign in. 3/5

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Bathrooms

The bathrooms were large and clean! Between my HSP and Crohn's, I feel like I know where the bathroom is anywhere I go. These were the nicest public park bathrooms I had ever seen. I didn't even feel gross stepping inside of it, which was a huge accomplishment. Every other public bathroom should take notes. 5/5

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Overall

Overall, I give the botanical gardens a 4.5 out of 5. It feels like there is enough accessibility for almost everyone, and the hours are decent from 9-4 every day. If you want an accessible place to see cool plants, this is definitely the place to see that! Thank you for reading about the accessibility at the Wahiawa Botanical Garden. If you have any questions or comments, please comment on the blog, reach out at @Anniekrollblog on Instagram or Facebook, or email me at Anniekrollblog@gmail.com. I hope to see you next week!