Home ›

Segways To Invade Antietam--Updated

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on April 17, 2007 - 5:54am

Apparently, the Park Service has eyed Segways for quite some time. Their imminent arrival in Antietam National Battlefield is simply the roll-out that's been planned for some areas of the park system since at least 2002.
Beginning in May you'll be able, for $85, to ride a Segway around Antietam. Battlefield superintendent John Howard has given Jeff Hutman permission to use the park's 8.5 miles of roads for his Segway tours.
As I mentioned back in January 2006 in a post about mountain biking, some Park Service officials have called Segways a reasonable mode of transportation in some parks. In light of the developments at Antietam, how long before proponents of these scooters are demanding separate paved trails in parks?
It might not be long at all. Scott Silver at Wild Wilderness has been covering this issue for some years. When he saw my post this morning, he forwarded two articles he posted back in 2002 that warned of an impending Segway invasion of the parks.
You can find those articles here and here.

Comments

Submitted by kath (not verified) on April 17, 2007 - 7:15am.
There's something about recreational Segway riding in a national battlefield that strikes me as inappropriate and disrespectful to the memory of those who died.
Submitted by Alan Gregory (not verified) on April 18, 2007 - 5:29am.
What about motorized scooters? And skateboarders? And what about wagons powered by gray squirrels turning flywheels? But, hey, why not sell the naming rights, too? How about the ABC/Disney Segway Theme Park? And just imagine the millions the good NPS folks at Gettysburg could realize by also selling naming rights.