Like Trackchairs and Trails? You’ll Love Frick Park!

One of the perks of being Disability Pride Pennsylvania’s Community Engagement Manager is getting to do things like go to Frick Environmental Center during the workday. I wanted to spend more time on the Sensory Trail and generally poke around to see what I might find.

I was in luck, as the staff at the center are probably the friendliest and most accommodating anywhere. They are proud of their accessibility, as they should be, and perhaps especially proud of their trackchair program.

Because what good are trails if not everyone can use them?

“We’ve had people use them from ages 5 to 90,” says Danielle Garner, the trackchair program coordinator for Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. “It’s wonderful being part of it.”

And also, did I know Matt Berwick? Because he is due any minute to demo the trackchair for a local nonprofit.

Uh yeah, I know Matt. He’s a board member at Disability Pride Pa., a local adaptive athlete, and all around good guy.

In the above video, Matt Berwick demos one of Frick Park’s trackchairs. He is smiling, wearing green glasses and driving the chair toward the camera.

There’s a lot to see at the Center if you are nature-oriented. I enjoyed poking around the accessible community garden space, the Sensory Trail and cutting across it to check out the Observatory Deck. I appreciated the varied surfaces that included paved, dirt and pea gravel, especially knowing that the track chairs make most of them accessible for anyone who may have difficulty accessing the trails otherwise. “We don’t ask a person what their disability is or anything like that,” says Danielle. Rather, the park trusts people to know their own ability level.

If you’d like to give one of their four track chairs a try, call or email Danielle and she’ll help set it up. Reach her at dgarner@PittsburghParks.org, 412-586-4576 (Ext. 116), or go to the website and reserve there.

Exploring the Sensory Trail

After leaving Matt to finish up his demo, I wandered over to the Sensory Trail. To find it, orient yourself to the Environmental Center’s main path leading into the park. Follow that path until you see the sign for the trail.

The Sensory Trail opened in May 2025 and is rather short, at just about a third of a mile.

There is a pebble harp that sings if you drop a rock into it, and a Rest Nest featuring rustic seats of various shapes and heights. Also, there are lots of native wildflowers, an Observation Deck and large laminated pages from a children’s book.

It also is situated within a 3-acre Outdoor Discovery Space, and many paths and trails intersect with it. A good number of those trails are cleared for track chair use, and a few are a bit more natural. I enjoy hiking so sought out a variety of terrains in the area surrounding the Sensory Trail.

You can see some of those paths in the below video.

The above video shows a variety of paths and terrains that intersect with Frick Park’s Sensory Trail.

Frick Park is a Family Tradition

Frick Park is Pittsburgh’s largest historic regional park. Its 644 acres comprise ball parks, playgrounds, trails, creeks, and more trails. When our daughter was young, we lived in Wilkinsburg and we’d go to the playground on Forbes and Braddock, as I did with my own mother. I grew up in North Braddock, and we’d take the 61A in, see who could swing the highest, and grab an ice cream float across the street. As an adult, I traded the ice cream in for treats found at the East End Food Coop, also a wonderful place and landmark.

And of course, there’s the Blue Slide Park at Beechwood and Nicholson. My sister and I called it Crazy Park for reasons we can’t recall. And the blue slide that looks like a brontosaurus head is still there! It’s built into the concrete and was made famous by Pittsburgh native Mac Miller, who named his first studio album after it.

Pittsburgh loves Mac back. There’s a plaque memorializing him on a bench close by the blue slide. There are also murals of Mac, and even devotional candles for sale at local gift shops.

Upon returning back to Pittsburgh after living in Central Pennsylvania for some time, I was sad to see the blackberry bushes were gone. My mom, aunt, cousins and siblings would fill our pails up with them and enjoy the resulting blackberry pies.

The park is still there, though, and as spacious as ever. It’s a great place to spend the day or at least a few hours.

What’s your Frick Park story? Did you go there as a child, and now take your children? Or is it a fairly new discovery for you? If you’ve never been and decide to go, let us know how you like it.