Extreme Adventure for Everybody: How Moab Is Redefining the Outdoors for Disabled Travelers

April 7, 2026

Carson Jelinek

By adapting rope swings, rock climbs, 4x4 tours and e-bike trails, Moab demonstrates that extreme adventure can be inclusive of disabled travelers, young children and all visitors.

Elevate Outdoors Tour photo. Courtesy of Faith Dickey.

In the United States, millions of individuals with disabilities enjoy traveling, with over 25 million taking trips in recent years and contributing more than $50 billion annually to the travel economy. However, participation across abilities remains uneven. Research indicates that seven out of 10 individuals with disabilities reduce their travel due to accessibility challenges, and millions rarely leave home. Persistent barriers in transportation, lodging and infrastructure result in a majority of families with disabled members avoiding certain trips entirely. These obstacles are further intensified in adventure travel, where rugged landscapes and limited infrastructure frequently exclude those lacking conventional mobility.

Man riding electric wheelchair. Mikhail Nilov. Pexels.

Moab, Utah, is one city advancing accessibility through policy initiatives. Starting March 1, the region will officially permit class 1 e-bikes on more than 200 miles of singletrack, including well-known routes such as Amasa Back and Klondike Bluffs. This decision positions Moab among the first major U.S. destinations to allow pedal-assist riders on its trails. Following an environmental assessment by the Bureau of Land Management, this policy represents a significant development in the cycling community. It not only serves experienced riders but also increases access to technical terrain for older visitors, individuals recovering from injuries and some disabled riders who depend on pedal assist to reach trails that would otherwise be inaccessible.

Electric bike in desert. Iztok Franko. Pixabay.

If you're looking for a thrilling off-road adventure that takes you to breathtaking sights across Moab, you can book with Mike Ballard and his company, Big Iron Tour Co. This off-road adventure company is veteran-owned and operated, and they recently installed wheelchair lifts on their 4x4 off-road vehicles so everyone can have fun. The vehicles range from 16-seat off-roaders, called “Man-O-War” and “Dreadnouight” to new-era Jeep Gladiators. Big Iron offers three tour packages: a two-hour tour, a four-hour tour and the most popular, the Sunset Tour. With the Sunset Tour, you scale the red rocks of the Moab and go on trails with several advanced obstacles, ending at a high vantage point to soak in the beautiful sunset.

The Moab Swingers tour offers the longest rope swing in the United States, spanning 500 feet. The attraction has appealed to families and younger visitors, as it is guided by experts, allowing activities previously limited to extreme athletes to be accessible to a wider demographic. The tour is led by cofounders Andy Lewis and Jimmy Peterson, lifelong friends and seasoned extreme-sports professionals. It includes an off-road excursion behind the prominent Moab rock formations, followed by a brief nature hike to the swing, culminating in an unforgettable experience as participants jump from the summit.

Red River Adventures, another tour company located in Moab, is known for its guided rafting, climbing, canyoneering and backcountry trips throughout Utah. To make experiences more accessible for people with disabilities, its guides have adapted rafting launches for wheelchair users and teamed up with groups that support blind, visually impaired and deaf participants. These adaptations demonstrate the Moab outdoor industry’s commitment to making high-risk recreation more accessible while preserving the core experience. Although not every canyon or climb can be changed, the company’s efforts are part of a larger trend in Moab of extreme adventure becoming more inclusive to a wider range of visitors.

Rafting in Utah. Liz Hoffmaster. Pixabay.

Elevate Outdoors, started by professional highliner and guide Faith Dickey, is another company helping make Moab’s outdoor scene more inclusive. The company is known for advanced instruction in slacklining, climbing and canyoneering. Elevate Outdoors focuses on accessibility by offering personalized guiding and adjusting the pace of activities to each person’s needs. Instead of one-size-fits-all trips, they work closely with participants to customize routes, change technical systems and help people build confidence step by step. For disabled travelers or those recovering from injuries, this kind of attention can make challenging terrain feel possible. By combining strong safety standards with a focus on empowerment and helping people manage fear, Elevate Outdoors proves that even Moab’s toughest adventures can be made accessible with the right approach.

TRAVELING THERE:

Elevate Outdoors is a locally owned guiding service specializing in rock climbing, canyoneering and highlining, led by experienced outdoor professionals who focus on skill-building and personalized trips. Their team emphasizes inclusivity and works closely with clients to adapt experiences to different ability levels.
Big Iron Tours is a veteran-owned company offering guided off-road tours through Moab’s red rock landscapes. It offers knowledgeable local guides who share both the terrain and history of the area, and tours range from short scenic rides to more immersive backcountry experiences.
Red River Adventures is one of Moab’s more established outfitters, offering rafting, rock climbing and canyoneering trips guided by seasoned professionals with deep knowledge of the region. Their guides are a central part of the experience, focusing on safety while creating a more personal, small-group environment.
Moab Swingers is a niche adventure outfitter offering guided rope-swinging excursions, typically operated by a small team that facilitates group-friendly experiences in a more unconventional outdoor setting. The experience is less about technical skill and more about shared thrill and group energy.

The Bureau of Land Management Moab Field Office is staffed by land managers and public servants who oversee recreation in the area, providing essential guidance on trail access, e-bike use and responsible travel across Moab’s public lands.

Carson Jelinek

Carson is a 22-year-old writer and filmmaker studying film and media productions at Arizona State University. His work explores travel, culture, and the people behind the places, with a focus on stories that encourage curiosity and global understanding.

10 Miles From Their Past: Za’atari Syrian Refugee Camp in Jordan

January 1, 2022

Jordan opened the Za'atari refugee camp in 2012, which has now gradually turned into a permanent settlement. Za’atari is home to an estimated 80,000 refugees, more than half of which are children.

Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan. World Bank Photo Collection. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Less than 10 miles from the Syrian border sits the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan’s desert. A camp that began as a collection of tents has now become an urban settlement with thousands of portacabins. At its peak, Za’atari hosted 150,000 refugees, today the camp hosts 80,000. For many it’s the closest thing to home, however many still struggle to find work to make a steady income.

Syrian Refugee Learning To Sew. UN Women Gallery. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The Za’atari refugee camp has all of the components that make up a city, including 32 schools, 58 community centers and eight medical clinics. Despite all of this aid, there are still insufficient resources for the influx of refugees housed there. Less than a fifth of the population has current work permits. Many men work illegally to support their families. Many women are excluded from employment and have to fight against social norms that call for them to stay home. However, the camp has provided classes geared towards women to teach them basic skills to help them earn an income. The benefits of these classes is to restore routine in their lives, fight off cultural norms and aid in their mental healing. It also helps them regain purpose and become self-sufficient.

Children in Za’atari on a Makeshift Swing. United Nations. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Children make up 58% of the population in Za’atari and an estimated 22,000 children are enrolled in school. They attend makeshift classes, but organizations are calling for an increase in financial aid. There is a need for more trained teachers and improved safety measures to facilitate the children’s access to class. Many girls face harassment and abuse as they walk to classes or as they walk back home. In addition, there’s a lack of resources for the children that need extra support in learning the material. The civil war has impacted where the children stand against their global peers in regards to education. Half of Syrian middle school-aged children are unable to read at a second-grade level and an average of 59% of middle school students could not do a second-grade math problem. In addition, only 1% of youth pursue higher education due to difficulty in obtaining transcripts, unfamiliar entrance exams, a language barrier and lack of funds.

The trauma experienced by both adults and children from the war and subsequently the resettlement process into another country, has led to a serious impact on the mental health of refugees. More than three-quarters of Syrian refugees have mental health symptoms. The violence, killings of loved ones and peers, destruction and frequent fear for their lives has caused PTSD, depression and anxiety, as well as intellectual and cognitive difficulties. To escalate the situation, there’s a stigma towards individuals with mental illness in Middle Eastern countries. Therefore, not many express the difficulties they face and the trauma they have experienced. The Za’atari camp offers mental health aid to the individuals and guides them towards healing so they are able to lead productive and mentally stable lives in the future.

The cost of keeping the 530-hectare camp operating every single day costs $500,000. Each person in the family (regardless of age) receives JOD 23 ($32) a month to cover food expenses. The money can be used in the two contracted supermarkets (Safeway and Tazweed) located in the camp or the four bread selling points. This allows the camp refugees to choose from a variety of produce to feed their families, bringing a sense of normalcy. Moreover, each family also receives 35 liters of water a day used for cleaning, drinking, eating and flushing the toilet. The water is filtered and chlorinated to meet the standards of tap water across Jordan. Water is brought in by dozens of tanker trucks or pumped from desert boreholes that directly feed water to the porta cabins. Electricity is provided through the solar power plant in Za’atari and has eased families' living conditions in the camp. It has improved their safety and security while facilitating food storage and allowing children longer hours to do their homework. The plant has helped save $5 million per year in electricity bills.

The Za’atari camp is a safe place where many aid workers and volunteers live. However, many forms of crime still exist: theft, violence, smuggling. Crime erupts as people are frustrated with their living situation and the limited resources available to them. There is little formal employment available within the camp. This results in refugees selling personal items, supplies received from organizations and, at times, prostitution. A young refugee girl said that she sells her body to support her family back home during the war. She makes, on average, $70 a day and although she fears persecution by Jordanian authorities, she explains that it’s her only way to help her family. Prostitution in Jordan is illegal and punishable. If foreign women and men are found guilty, they can be deported. Desperate families will at times sell their young daughters and forcefully marry them to men in the refugee camp.

Za’atari Refugee Camp, Jordan. United Nations. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The camp will continue to host and support refugees through education, livelihood opportunities and work permits. This will alleviate the trauma and circumstances lived by many Syrians. The Za’atari leaders hope to return a sense of dignity to the refugees and bring opportunity to the camp inhabitants with the resources provided.

To Get Involved

UNHCR helps provide aid to Syrian refugees who have fled. They provide shelter kits and non-food items as well as protection services and psychosocial support to those who remain in Syria.

To learn more about UNHCR click here.

To support the Syrian refugees through UNHCR click here.

A Surge in Condemnations Follows Israel’s Annexation Plans for the West Bank

June 26, 2020

The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, is planning to annex parts of the West Bank on July 1 to extend Israeli sovereignty to new areas. This is a controversial and illegal move according to U.N. experts and much of the international community but comes with the support of the Trump administration.

According to 47 experts appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council, "The annexation of occupied territory is a serious violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the Geneva Conventions, and contrary to the fundamental rule affirmed many times by the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly that the acquisition of territory by war or force is inadmissible. These experts also deemed Israel’s annexation plan “a vision of 21st century apartheid.”"

Palestinians, Palestinian leaders, and leaders of the Arab world have largely condemned this plan. In the first attempt of its kind, the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al Otaiba, wrote in an Israeli newspaper to appeal “directly to Israelis in Hebrew to deter Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from following through on his promise to annex occupied territory as early as next month,” says The New York Times. The article was a refutation of Netanyahu’s assertion that Arab countries gain too much from Israel to continue supporting Palestinians. In addition to those concerns, many former Israeli defense officials argue that the annexation plan could increase violence within the West Bank, where Palestinians are facing an increase in unemployment. “Imposing Israeli sovereignty on territory the Palestinians have counted on for a future state,” Israeli experts say, “could ignite a new uprising on the West Bank. Neighboring Jordan could be destabilized.”

The news of an annexation plan has brought about new pleas from the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement (BDS), created in 2005 by Palestinians to end international support for Israel’s actions in the West Bank . In May 2020, various Palestinian civil rights groups, human rights organizations, and unions “called on governments to adopt ‘effective countermeasures, including sanctions’ to ‘stop Israel’s illegal annexation of the occupied West Bank and grave violations of human rights.’”

The BDS movement saw a huge victory on June 11 when the European Court of Human Rights shut down France’s attempt to criminalize BDS activists in a 2015 case. At the time of the arrests, the activists were said to be inciting discrimination against a group of people for their origins, race or religion. In the end “the European judges ruled that as citizens these activists had the right to express their political opinions, which are in no sense discriminatory against a race or a religion.” Netanyahu’s expeditious plan to annex is likely to bring about more condemnations from the international community and increase support for the BDS movement, but it is unclear whether these actions will actually halt his plan.