Since You Asked: Disabled access to Table Rocks on wish list - News - MailTribune.com - Medford, OR

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Since You Asked: Disabled access to Table Rocks on wish list Thursday Apr 26, 2018 at 2:01 AM Why is it that if you are handicapped you can’t go to the top of the Table Rocks? There is a road up there, so why not let disabled people go to a special parking area for disabled folks? We wouldn’t be walking around and stomping flowers, just enjoying the view. — Richard Molly Morrison, southwest Oregon preserves manager for The Nature Conservancy, says she gets calls every year from groups wanting to drive to the top of the Table Rocks. “It’s been on my list for a long time to do that,” Morrison says. “I would love to. Ideally, we would like to offer a couple of trips a year for special groups. Just because someone is not able to hike the trail is not a reason not to be able to get up there. It’s in our future plans.” The Nature Conservancy and the Bureau of Land Management manage the area together. A gated road owned by The Nature Conservancy leads off Table Rock Road to the top of Upper Table Rock. Morrison says the road is not open to the public. The Nature Conservancy would not open it for general public use, but Morrison says at some point she would like the organization to host driving tours using the road. Such tours would likely require a four-wheel-drive vehicle, because rocks on the road are slippery and sharp, she says. Morrison says The Nature Conservancy would not build a parking lot on Upper Table Rock because that would not be appropriate for the habitat there. Both Upper Table Rock and Lower Table Rock are popular hiking destinations. The two mesas northwest of Medford are named for their upstream and downstream locations along the Rogue River, with Upper Table Rock located upstream of Lower Table Rock. Send questions to “Since You Asked,” Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by email to [email protected]. We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them.