ORLANDO — Rugged, remote trails that might typically be traversed exclusively on foot, bike or horseback are suddenly accessible to people with disabilities thanks to a new program at Seminole State Forest in Florida.

A motorized wheelchair with all-terrain tracks is available for reservation, free of charge, on the weekends for those with mobility impairments and their families to enjoy time in the woods. This long-held dream was first hatched by George Koutsakis, president of Friends of Seminole State Forest, during a trip to Colorado several years ago.

“I was way up in the mountains on a narrow trail. I saw someone using one of these chairs hiking with his two adult children and four grandchildren,” Koutsakis said of the program at Staunton State Park. “To have a person in a wheelchair listen to the birds and be at peace soaking in nature, you can’t beat that.”

After years of petitioning and overcoming bureaucratic challenges, Friends of Seminole State Forest has an EcoRover track-powered wheelchair, the first of its kind in all of Florida’s 38-state forest system. In the Sunshine State, an estimated 13.5% of adults have a disability that affects their mobility, not to mention out-of-state visitors who might benefit from the program.

“The word that I hear a lot is, ‘thank you,’” Koutsakis said. “These people have felt forgotten.”

Years after writing a letter in support of the tracked-chair program, Shannon Keim was able to bring her daughter, Skyler Keim-Jones, onto the trails she loves to run.

“I got tears in my eyes the program got accepted. We cheered and cried together; it’s amazing,” Keim said. “It’s been a long time coming, but now it’s here, and we can do it any weekend we want to do it.”

These mobility machines can travel up to 15 miles on a single charge and feature amenities such as cupholders, USB charging ports, LED lights and a power tilt seat.