Wheelchair Accessible Cabin Lodging in the Smoky Mountains
The National Parks are a beautiful treasure we have in the U.S. Given the chance, everyone should go and experience that grandness and beauty these places offer. A popular National Park is the Great Smokey Mountains along the Tennessee-North Carolina border. Instead of staying in a hotel and away from the natural environment, many prefer to stay in lodging that’s surrounded by nature. If you are planning a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains and looking for a luxurious and wheelchair accessible cabin to stay in, you might want to consider the Soaring Ridge Mountain Lodge.
Lodge in Style
The Soaring Ridge Mountain Lodge is not a simple frontier cabin. The lodging boasts 6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, a movie theater room, hot tubs, a sauna, and more! So this wouldn’t qualify as a “roughing it” style cabin. But the log cabin style is there and done in a gorgeous way. Plus as you can see from the picture above, the views are fantastic. Now let’s take a look at the features that make this cabin wheelchair accessible.
Ramped Entrance
First matter of business is getting into the cabin. The front entrance is made accessible with a ramp that fits well with the look of the cabin. With a railing made of wood in the log cabin style and constructed proportionally, the ramp doesn’t look like an extra feature but part of the cabin. Which it is. The driveway is large paved with plenty of level room for vehicles with lifts.
Getting Floor to Floor
At four stories tall, an elevator would be necessary for this cabin to be called wheelchair accessible. The cabin’s elevator doors are made of wood and blend in with the rest of the interior. Unfortunately the elevator does not go to the loft level where the best bedroom in the house is. That bedroom is the best because of the grand A-framed shaped window wall and its views.
Accessible-ish Bathroom
The bathrooms are a bit of a compromise when in it comes to accessibility. The shower does have space and a low threshold but is not roll-in. If you carry portable threshold ramps then you might be able to get in and out of these showers easier. There are also no grab bars and the vanity is not roll-under. With 6 bathrooms it would be nice if at least 1 or 2 were remodeled to be fully accessible. Wouldn’t take much to do and would make the lodge more attractive to wheelchair users.
Conclusion
While not 100% wheelchair accessible, the Souring Ridge Mountain Lodge is an option. Besides the accessible features mentioned, the layout is big and open with wheelchair friendly flooring. I would take advantage of the large amount of deck space to take in the views. For more information on this lodge, visit this website.
