Milwaukee County’s goal is to enrich your life by providing essential services that meet your needs and those of your family, neighbors, co-workers and friends.
We enhance the quality of life in Milwaukee County through great public service.
Milwaukee County is home to over 950,000 people living in one of 19 communities, which range in size from the City of Milwaukee, with 595,000 residents, to the Village of River Hills, with roughly 1,600 residents.
Still a manufacturing stronghold, the region features 16 Fortune 1000 companies and thousands of others in the financial services, medical device, hospitality and retailing industries.
Find information about things to do and happenings in Milwaukee County.
Milwaukee County Parks is committed to making facilities and attractions accessible to all visitors. This guide highlights the accessible venues and activities available within the park system. Milwaukee County's Office for Persons with Disabilities also provides details on accessibility throughout the County.
Check out a handcycle for free at Wheel Fun Rentals at Veterans Park South, on the Lake Loop section of the multi-use Oak Leaf Trail. Surrey bikes, with up to three rows of side-by-side riding, are available for rent.
Learn more about our partner, The Ability Center and its RampUp program, which was instrumental in making handcycles available at the Lakefront.
Request a Handcycle
Bublr bike-share stations also offer adaptive bikes at select locations, including Cathedral Square, Red Arrow Park, Walker Square and Zeidler Union Square. Check the Bublr website for availability.
Hit the beach with a free beach wheelchair checkout at The Dock at Bradford Beach. The beach wheelchairs feature wide tires to allow you to manuever in the sand and into the water. A permanent concrete ramp allows access to the beach and seasonal mobi mats (shown above) provide access to the water.
Reserve Your Chair! Call Zack Grmick, General Manager at The Dock, at (414) 530-3251
Learn more about our partner, The Ability Center and its RampUp program, which was instrumental in making Bradford Beach the most accessible beach in America!
Reserve an adaptive golf car at Currie Park Golf Course or Greenfield Park Golf Course and swing while seated! The fee is the same as the rental for a standard golf car. A Paramobile golf car, that helps you stand to golf, is available at Currie Park, to pre-qualified players who have a disability.
Call the course to request a golf car at least 48 hours in advance: Currie Park (April – early July): (414) 453-7030 Greenfield Park (late July – close): (414) 256-4010
Paramobile Application Information: (414) 453-6890
Visit waterparks at Cool Waters in Greenfield Park, Schulz Aquatic in Lincoln Park or Pelican Cove in Kosciuszko Park for easy entry and lots of interactive water features. Outdoor pools at McCarty Park and Wilson Park have ramps into the pools from the deck edge, and indoor pools at Noyes Park and Pulaski Park have accessible entry too. All of the free splash pads also let you roll into the fun!
View All the Waterparks & Pools
Enjoy a beer in the park at South Shore Terrace on the shore of Lake Michigan, at the Vine Humboldt in Humboldt Park, or at Whitnall Beer Garden along the Root River Parkway in Greendale. And don't forget the Traveling Beer Gardens! All feature wheelchair-accessible picnic tables and restrooms as well as free Aira service.
More About the Beer Gardens
Connect with nature! From the all-terrain wheelchair, Wetland boardwalk, pier on Mallard Lake, and amphitheater, to the visitor center with its spacious family restroom and a wide variety of inclusive educational programs, Wehr is a place for everybody!
More About Wehr
Reserve the all-terrain wheelchair! Learn more about our partner, Access Ability Wisconsin and make your reservation to use the chair at Wehr or to use the chair and enclosed trailer for towing to another site – all for free. Make your reservation directly through Access Ability Wisconsin.
Ramps throughout the Botanical Gardens take you to colorful and fragrant displays in 12 garden spaces. For weddings or personal events, rent the accessible Whitnall Park Rotary Circle terrace. Programming, a cafe and banquet rental space are available in the accessible Education and Visitor Center.
View the Accessibility Guide
Explore the desert dome, tropical dome and floral show dome at the accessible Mitchell Park Conservatory. A limited number of wheelchairs are available for use during your visit.
Through the free Aira app on a smartphone, people who are blind or have low vision can access highly-trained, remotely-located agents for instant access to visual information. Available year round at Boerner Botanical Gardens, The Domes and Wehr Nature Center. Available seasonally at the Beer Gardens, Bradford Beach, Veterans Park and major concert series locations.
Get Details & the App!
If you've dreamed of gliding around an ice rink, the ice sleds at Red Arrow Park can help to make that dream come true! Ice sleds are available to use for free, on a first-come, first-served basis during the winter skating season at the outdoor refrigerated rink.
Learn more about our partner, The Ability Center and its RampUp program, which was instrumental in bringing the ice sleds to Red Arrow Park.
Find accessible piers at Holler Park and Scout Lake Park, or fish along the seawall at Veterans Park. All of these locations are stocked by the Hunger Task Force Fish Hatchery and the WDNR. If you are 16 or older, you'll need a fishing license and inland trout stamp from the WDNR.
Get Your Fishing License
Milwaukee County parks are home to two recreation centers inspired by the saying, "Where there's a will, there's a way." Wil-O-Way Grant in South Milwaukee and Wil-O-Way Underwood in Wauwatosa offer a wide variety of programs to individuals with disabilities who are age 16 and up.
More About Wil-O-Way Recreational Programming
Milwaukee County Parks partners with several orgainizations to offer raised-bed gardens. UW–Extension operates community gardens in several parks, including rentable plots at Cupertino Park and the Healing Garden for military veterans at Kohl Park, with involvement of the Milwaukee Vet Center. Senior centers at Washington Park and Wilson Park, operated by the Department on Aging, also offer raised-bed gardening to members.
Play areas and playgrounds are designed so that children with disabilities have easier access and use of the play equipment — and more interaction with other kids! All play areas are ADA compliant to the year of installation or upgrade. Many playgrounds have rubber surfaces. Find adaptive swings at 15 play areas.
The Oak Leaf Trail system includes miles of graded, accessible multi-use trails; however, some branch lines do have challenging road crossings. Branch lines with the fewest road crossings include the Zip Line, the South Shore Line and the Milwaukee River Line between Estabrook Park and downtown Milwaukee.
View Trail Map
Many Milwaukee County parks can be accessed on Milwaukee County bus routes. All buses feature a low-floor design, ramps for people in mobility devices and a special seating area.
View Routes & Schedules
9480 W. Watertown Plank Road Wauwatosa, WI 53226 (414) 257-PARK (7275)