Edie Perkins is an athlete, adventurer, and handcyclist. Edie traded running shoes for wheels after being struck by a car while on a bike ride in 2017. She is now paralyzed from the chest down and uses a wheelchair (or handcycle!) to get around. Since her injury, she has dedicated herself to empowering others with disabilities, advocating for access to recreational spaces, and helping people get active through adaptive sports.
In this post, Edie shares her trip to the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS).
Even after four years in Vermont, I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of what this beautiful state has to offer. So this summer and fall, I’ve made it my mission to get out and explore.
I’ve been paralyzed from the chest down since a 2017 car vs. cyclist injury (I was the cyclist) and now I use a wheelchair to get around. Exploring the outdoors looks a little different, but my love of nature hasn’t gone anywhere.
Fortunately, Vermont has been making tremendous strides improving accessibility in the outdoors. Check out the Trail Accessibility Hub (TAH), an incredible new resource that provides land managers with trail assessments, information, and guidance on how to make their trails accessible to more people. They have also been improving Trail Finder so that trail descriptions objectively share information about trail slope, grade, surface, width, and more. These details help all people, especially those of us who use mobility devices, to choose their own adventure. In my case, that means finding wheelchair and handcycle-friendly trails. The site has opened up new possibilities throughout the state for me.
One thing I learned pretty quickly after moving here: Vermont doesn’t have four seasons—it has six. (Locals know “stick season” is very real.) I picked one of the last weekends of fall, right before stick season hit, to explore the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, or VINS Nature Center (as it’s known). The day couldn’t have been more perfect: mid-70s, a soft warm breeze, and trees still glowing in their late-autumn colors.
VINS was founded in the 1970s to help clean up the Ottauquechee River. Today, it’s a 47-acre nature center in Quechee dedicated to inspiring people to care for the environment through education, research, and wildlife rehabilitation.
We started our visit at the Songbird Aviary, a beautifully designed habitat where we looked for – and sometimes spotted – cedar waxwings, northern cardinals, robins, and other native birds. Then it was on to the raptor enclosures where we got to see hawks, eagles, owls, and falcons up close!
Each bird has its own story, many arriving at VINS after injuries. Those that can’t return to the wild become part of VINS’s education programs, helping teach visitors about the importance of wildlife conservation. I learned a lot about raptors as we moved along, as each enclosure provides the bird’s history and information about the species. Both the Songbird Aviary and raptor enclosures are wheelchair-accessible.
Next was the Canopy Walk! Wow! It was awesome. Imagine rolling onto a boardwalk that starts at ground level—and, as the land drops off below, suddenly you’re 40 feet above the forest floor, moving through the treetops. The walkway is wide, sturdy, and fully accessible, offering panoramic views of the forest and meadow below.
It’s hard to describe how breathtaking it felt. The sunlight filtered through golden leaves, the breeze rustled the canopy, and I felt completely in the forest—not on the edge of it. I took my time rolling along the nearly quarter-mile walkway, soaking in every sight. There are some towers that go even higher (those are stair-only), but honestly, the view from the main boardwalk was plenty. I was in awe—of both the scenery and the sheer feat of engineering that made it possible.
VINS truly blew me away. Everything felt thoughtfully designed for accessibility without losing that wild, natural feel. The paths are subtle, the views are incredible, and the experience left me grinning ear to ear. I definitely want to return every season – all six of them.
P.S. In winter, VINS lights up the Canopy Walk for evening strolls. I’ll be back for that, too!
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