Ever since the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, nearly all parks in the United States have been retrofitted to make sure trails, buildings, bathrooms, and other public areas are accessible for people with different mobility needs. But creating accommodations to make visiting parks more enjoyable for people with invisible disabilities — those you can’t see just by looking at a person — has been a slower process.
Virginia State Parks/EnChroma/Kim Wells
Virginia State Parks' New Viewfinders Help Colorblind Visitors See Fall Foliage
But recently, one state park system introduced a small new offering, though it’s sure to make a big difference for people with visual differences.
In 2023, Virginia State Parks installed a trial EnChroma-adapted viewfinder at Natural Tunnel State Park, based on a suggestion from the park’s colorblind chief ranger. The mounted viewing devices look like the mounted binoculars you’ll find at many look-out points in parks, but “are equipped with special lenses from EnChroma designed to help those with red-green Color Vision Deficiency (CVD) experience an expanded range of visible color,” according to the release. In 2024, the park installed them at the remaining 42 parks in the system.
Fall foliage to a person with red-green color deficiencies (right), and the view through the new viewfinders (left). Slide for more. Photo: Virginia State Parks/EnChroma
Photo: Virginia State Parks/EnChroma
Photo: Virginia State Parks/EnChroma
Photo: Virginia State Parks/EnChroma
Virginia is the first state to install the colorblind-friendly lenses in viewfinders at all state parks, though the parks’ partner, EnChroma, works with attractions around the county to lend colorblind-friendly eyeglasses to visitors. Travelers visiting destinations ranging from the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Florida to Canada’s Northern Lights Resort & Spa in Whitehorse or the Parco Nazionale della Maiella in Italy can borrow a pair of EnChroma glasses for their visits, making nearly all colors more vivid and vibrant.
The completion of the project across Virginia’s state parks is ideal timing for visitors keen to see the state’s colorful fall foliage. Deciduous trees like sugar maples, oak trees, and hickories turn the state’s hillsides into a living canvas during autumn. At lower elevations, it’s mostly oaks, sweet gums, and dogwoods creating a vibrant array of reds, yellows, oranges, and even purples.
Some of the best state parks in Virginia for fall foliage include:
- Natural Bridge State Park is known for its 215-foot-tall natural bridge, as well as its beautiful fall foliage.
- Pocahontas State Park near Richmond is an 8,000-acre park with hiking, biking, and horse trails, as well as two fishing lakes and an aquatic center. It’s a great place to see fall foliage from some very accessible walking paths.
- Grayson Highlands State Park is a mountain park known for bouldering, scenic hiking, and horse trails. It’s also home to a herd of wild ponies, and it’s a great place to see fall foliage in the state’s high country.
- Sky Meadows State Park is a 1,900-acre park with 24 miles of trails (including the Appalachian Trail) and an 1860s farm in the southern part of the state’s Blue Ridge Mountains.
