Perfect weather on Aug. 1 and a desire to be among the first to walk the newly opened Crooked Trail brought my wife and me to the adjacent and newly open-to-the-public ‘O Rew Redwoods Gateway — a 125-acre Yurok Tribe-owned and managed preserve just north of Orick. The new entry gate read, “Welcome to ‘O Rew Yurok Country, Southern Gateway to Redwood National and State Parks.”
We love to walk on trails we’ve never been on before but this was even better — we’d be among the first visitors to round the ‘O Rew Redwoods Gateway and then walk on the Crooked Trail uphill in old-growth redwood forest to the intersection with the Berry Glen Trail that goes on up to the Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trail loop.
After we entered the Redwoods Gateway’s expansive parking lot with nearby restroom and picnic area, we stopped first at the Gathering Place, with its central information kiosk that resembles a traditional Yurok house. Nearby are also new interpretation story signs, benches and Yurok traditional stools. We looked over a wide expanse of restored Redwood Creek bottom land that contrasted greatly from what used to be a former lumber mill and then later covered with the piles of concrete and asphalt after the Yurok Tribe began this restoration project. Prairie Creek used to be basically a ditch along U.S. Highway 101 and the restoration has now created the meandering creek and ponds for fish habitat away from the highway. The Save the Redwoods League purchased the site in 2013 for $2 million and, after a decade of intensive restoration in partnership with the Yurok Tribe, officially transferred ownership to the tribe a few days before we visited.
The Yurok Tribe website now describes this 125-acre property within Yurok ancestral homelands as “a place long nurtured and stewarded by Yurok people as both a cultural and ecological resource site. Over the past century, the land was altered by ranching, logging and sawmill operations. Following extensive restoration, the landscape has been revitalized and its natural ecological functions restored.”
The restoration work done by the Yurok Tribe included removing 21 acres of asphalt, realigning a mile of Prairie Creek and connecting it to its flood plain to create refuge habitat and feeding areas for young salmon and steelhead, and then planting over 400,000 native plants to rebuild biodiversity and support wildlife habitat. On any given day, you’re now likely to see elk wandering through the area or a California condor flying overhead. During our visit, a large turkey vulture flew overhead, and we saw lots of scat evidence of elk and deer.
Joseph James, Yurok Tribe chairman, is quoted on the tribe’s website as saying, “We created a new model of conservation that centers Indigenous land stewardship. It’s a blueprint for returning Tribal lands and restoring fractured ecosystems worldwide.”
As we hiked the trails, we stopped frequently at the many push-button story signs spread throughout the 125-acre property with recordings of tribal members pronouncing words in Yurok language and recounting important historical aspects of the setting. Signs and maps list trail names and locations in English and Yurok, along with bar codes to scan to hear their pronunciations.
We next walked from the Gathering Place on a wide, curving, paved accessible trail a short distance to the Outdoor Classroom area. It overlooks the expansive restored Prairie Creek area and features more audio story signs, benches and a beautiful mural.
To the left of the Outdoor Classroom area is the unpaved Yey-goh Laas (“Trail that keeps going around”) that goes past several small Salmon Run interpretive signs and out through restoration areas, where planting is still underway. This trail becomes the unpaved Wo-gee Laas (“Trail in the middle”) and brought us back to the parking lot and Gathering Place. The future location of the Cultural Visitor Center will be to the northeast of the Gathering Place (estimated to be completed in five years).
By the time we returned to the Gathering Place, three employees from the Yurok Tribe Cultural Resources Department had set up an informational tent to welcome visitors and share the project’s history.
We next headed north for about a half mile from the Gathering Place to the trailhead for the Ker-kur’-yer-mer-cheen Lass (“Crooked Trail”), starting on a paved walking/bicycling section of the California Coastal Trail. You can use either the unpaved ‘O’leh ‘We-lass (“House Trail”) to the future re-created village site and trailhead, or the paved-at-the-start Wo-gee Laas Trail. I recommend using the latter for now, as it features benches with a great view of the entire Redwoods Gateway area next to the forest. It also takes you past the Walk the Redwood 380 feet interpretative site where you walk next to posts along the trail that show the length of a tall redwood tree.
As we neared the trailhead, we met a Redwood National Park interpretive ranger who had just removed the “Closed” sign and welcomed us to be among the first to hike the Crooked Trail. He gave a gentle warning about the uphill walking to the Berry Glen Trail intersection through old-growth redwood forest and encouraged us to watch for the twisting “corkscrew” trees next to the trail about a mile up.
Later in an email exchange, Redwood National and State Parks Trails Supervisor Brittney McGuire said, “The goal was to provide a steady grade throughout, since there’s a notable elevation difference from one end of the trail to the other. By moderating the climb, hikers can enjoy views of the old growth redwood forest without getting too winded. We will be adding more gravel to improve the trail surface, providing an even tread for hikers, as the trail surface naturally settles, which also helps to minimize wear on the underlying soil.”
McGuire singled out two special features of this trail. “When hikers descend the hillside through the old growth forest, you will get a unique perspective looking out and down at different layers of the forest canopy. A corkscrew tree is also easy to spot as you descend through the forest.”
The trailhead sign on the newly opened uphill Crooked Trail says it’s 2.69 miles to the Berry Glenn Trail and then about 0.6 mile on it to the Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trail with 1,204 feet of elevation gain. The Crooked Trail does live up to its name as I counted 15 switchbacks before we reached its intersection with the Berry Glen Trail (after approximately 2 miles). The trail winds through large and very tall old-growth redwoods at the start of the trail with lots of ferns as understory.
We’re both fit seniors and it took us 40 minutes of steady walking to complete our hike up to the intersection with the Berry Glen Trail, including a few rest and hydration stops. As you go up the trail, you’ll find the first sitting bench at the seventh switchback (count them as you go up from the trailhead) and then another bench at the ninth switchback. Next you will see the short loop trail option (featuring an interesting candelabra tree) to the west. There’s a small, short bridge after switchback No. 10, and after switchback No. 12, the trail features much longer, flatter sections with less elevation gain as you near the ridge top and the Berry Glen Trail intersection. As mentioned earlier, after about a mile going up the trail, look for the interesting corkscrew redwood trees on the left just past a large redwood log that overhangs the trail.
After about five switchbacks up the trail, we also happened to meet Mary Burke (a candidate for 5th District supervisor) and her friends coming down the trail celebrating the opening of the trail. Burke worked for 10 years as the Cal Trout restoration project manager for the Redwoods Gateway project with the Yurok Tribe. She said this was her first time to walk on the completed and “aptly named” Crooked Trail. She also had an excellent suggestion for anyone wanting to avoid the steep uphill-and-back-down hike on the Crooked Trail: Do a two-car shuttle with friends starting by leaving one vehicle at the Gateway parking lot, drive up Bald Hills Road and, after parking at the Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trail parking lot, walk the flat Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trail to the Berry Glen Trailhead. From there, walk downhill on the Berry Glen Trail to the Crooked Trail intersection on the left and downhill to your shuttle vehicle at the Redwoods Gateway parking lot.
My wife and I enjoyed a short break at the Crooked Trail and Berry Glen intersection, saving the remaining walk up to the Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trail for another time. Our downhill walk back to where we started on the Crooked Trail, including doing the short loop, took us about 30 minutes with only a few rest stops.
“Redwood National Park is very excited to support the Yurok Tribe and the Save the Redwoods League in their momentous decision to transfer ownership of ‘O Rew back to the original stewards of the land,” said McGuire. “The park works closely with both groups and supports the restoration that’s already taken place and the long-term vision for the site.”
The ‘O Rew Redwoods Gate is located off Bald Hills Road just north of Orick a short distance from U.S. Highway 101. For more information, visit yuroktribe.org/o-rew. No restroom or water available on the Crooked Trail; restroom and picnic area are only at the Gathering Place. Entrance gate is closed to vehicles sunset to sunrise. Wear good hiking shoes and layers of clothing, in case of fog or rain, and let someone know your hiking plans. Do not approach the elk.
Mark Larson (he/him) is a retired Cal Poly Humboldt journalism professor and active freelance photographer who likes to walk.
This article appears in Corkscrew Trees and a Crooked Trail.