Crooked Trail to Lady Bird Johnson Grove

Redwood National Park

Click for interactive map

On the prior Thursday, I joined the California Invasive Species Advisory Committee's invasive species tour of Eureka. It was at the last minute because I figured I knew all about these things since I spend a bit of time each week hacking them down as a volunteer. Of course, they were talking about the lesser known things and the tour started out with aphids that affect Sitka spruce terribly as we toured Mouralherwaqh, a patch of land that is Wiyot again. This one is not open to the general public, but we also visited the 'O Rew Redwood Gateway, a piece of land that is Yurok again, and is open to the public as of 1 Aug and where I discovered a new trail. I also noted that although this was most recently an abandoned mill site, there are some nice rounded tree tops poking out of the forest nearby, one of the signs of old growth. I decided I would be back to try that new trail.

The sign at the after hours/overflow parking at 'O Rew Redwoods Gateway shows an area overview including the historic extent of Yurok lands.

The gate for the main parking is marked as closing at 5PM, about when I expected to finish, so I parked in the extra parking so I wouldn't have to worry about which side of 5PM I actually finished. I had known of this area through some California Coastal Trail documentation and a conversation with a ranger at the Thomas H. Kuchel Visitor Center on the other side of Orick. It was desirable as a new location for a visitor center (but the old one isn't all that old) and to provide a safer route for the California Coastal Trail, which follows the narrow highway along some sharp turns in this area. The visitor center is still to be realized, but the trail is here and signed.

The huge main parking lot and a view up Redwood Creek as the "drizzle" clears to sunshine.

Besides the trail, there's plenty of seating, picnic tables, toilets, bicycle parking, and fancy audio interpretive signs about all manner of things including the restoration work of the meadow and Prairie Creek (Sey-po-lah 'Ue-Pkwery) that was the focus of the visit the week before. While there is no visitor center, I did have a chat with a woman charged with informing the public. Apparently the elk haven't been hanging around, but that's just as well because they've just calved and they're a little defensive at the moment. There's also a bear about that has allowed people to see it, perhaps worrying behavior. I also got a brochure with a map. However, I left most of its details for later and followed the arrows for the California Coastal Trail (along Wo-gee Laas or Trail in the Middle) to where the Crooked Trail (Ker-ker'-yer-mer-cheen Laas) takes off from the paving to climb through the trees.

Looking across to the forest to admire those rounded tree tops that caught my eye on the first visit.

Trails diverge, each junction marked with large signs showing trail names or destinations including mileages (and kilomerter-ages) to points of interest.

Along the way, there are a pair of signs marking out the height of the tallest redwood measured, at 380 feet. They also describe measuring the height with some sighting tubes for illustration. It is a long walk uphill from the base to the top of that virtual tree.

Looking back along the tree length from the upper sign toward the lower one, which is a wider post just before the benches. See them? No?

Maybe paying more attention to the big tree in the back than anything else as the trail starts.

At the bottom of the trail, not only is the mileage updated to 2.69 mi (4.3 km) to Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trail, but the climb of 1204 ft (367 m) is also noted. Only about a mile of that is Ker-kur'-yer-mer-cheen Laas (the Crooked Trail), which starts out strong passing big trees as it edges along a nurse log. I was expecting the trail to follow the old entry road which Berry Glen Trail joins shortly before getting to the grove, but the only short section that looked like old road launched itself across a gully in a crude fashion that no road built to be permanent should.

Roots running along a big log by the trail start.

A lovely group of severely fire scarred trees holds an evergreen huckleberry up high.

A top that is not 380 feet away, but it might as well be.

The trail has been built extremely wide. It is true to its name and switches back and forth frequently. Eventually I came to a bench, then two turns more there was a second. The upper bench had the best tree view I think.

Up the trail to the second bench and its local trees.

Past the second bench was a little sign pointing at a spur saying "Loop" and not too far further another. I decided to take a turn around it, which didn't take long.

Where the Loop heads off at its top.

And then I continued up the trail some more. Here it starts to take some much longer straights between turns.

A bit of bare wood shows a twisting grain as it still stands.

The roots of the fallen lift up huckleberries and ferns.

Here is trail and trees.

A not-so-low bridge up ahead.

Amazing trees keep coming.

Eventually I looked up to what felt like a familiar ridge line. It told me that I would arrive at Berry Glen Trail just past a short downhill section as it drops away from a logged area. There is a long, less steep section to get to where it meets the old entry road. Looking at old maps and USGS 3D Elevation Profile, I can find that old road far to the east and making half its climb through second growth trees, so it is just as well that the new trail does not follow it at all.

Three quick turns from the top, the ridge and trees above feel familiar.

The junction has been signed to help keep people from getting lost, though I did soon meet a group coming up who commented that that was not a loop trail behind them. It sort of suggested they'd meant to be on the loop above, but gotten distracted by this downhill. They were powering back up pretty well, so probably just needed a lot more hiking than that upper loop offers on its own.

At the junction, the new Crooked Trail looks extra wide but should grow in and look as narrow as the older Berry Glen Trail.

One wonders what triggers the shapes of these trunks. Infection and fire.

Trail passes below one upturned root.

The group passed me because they were hurrying, then I kept catching up with them because they were tired. I hung back, trying to let them get ahead, and played with my new-to-me camera. Today's camera is a Fujifilm Finepix S1 which originally came out a year or so before the Panasonic DMC-FZ300 I cruelly broke. I was going to just get along with the dSLR, at least until there might be specials in November. I'm not sure on what because there's few superzooms being made now. Or "bridge cameras". Whatever. Canon make none at all. Panasonic decided to continue making the one that seems worse than the one I chose, but it costs more. Sony had what was considered the best superzoom but discontinued it. After over a year, they just came out with a new model, but it does cost more than my car is worth. For fun, I looked at what dSLR body plus a Tamron or Sigma 16/18-300mm lens I could get for the same price (and weight!), probably better performance, and the option to try other lenses sometimes. I decided it was a Fujifilm body I might like for this, and then I read about this old superzoom they made. I found a "used-good" one for what is hopefully a reasonable price and went for it. Today is the first real use by me. Of course, being in the forest, I was challenging its low light capabilities (which the whole camera class can't handle well) and having very little use for the 50x zoom.

Checking the high branches at 50x optical zoom to see if they might have worlds hidden away in them. Not this one.

Trunks of many colors.

A bit of trail where you can see it was wide like the new one once.

Now on the old entry road. Far to the right, you can see the edge of the cut.

Coming to the top, I turned to confirm the sign stating that this trail will drop 1200 feet in 3 miles, was still there. It was and joined by a new one stating the junction was 1.6 miles off and 650 ft drop. They had been warned. I turned left away from the dedication plaque, which led to increasing numbers for the interpretive trail so I was generally going with traffic.

Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trail.

There's a lot more people taking the Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trail loop than the climb. It's one of the places that people are told they simply must go, some web sites claiming they're the most beautiful trees to go see. The trees show a great deal of handling down by their bases from all the traffic they get. While I don't want to denigrate trees that are honestly very impressive, I tend to do the loop as a somewhat perfunctory matter after already climbing past nicer trees.

Looking up from the edge of the well trod interior of a burned out redwood.

See how the light plays through the needles around the relatively short limbs of a very large redwood.

There's lots of rhododendrons in the northeast part of the loop as it nears the trail to the main parking area for the grove.

Most the rhododendrons were well past flower and developing seeds.

But there was one last flower holding on.

Different limb strategies in trees: long on the left or short on the right.

A very well polished tree base over some well stomped roots. The burned areas, clear areas, and bark all attract frequent touching on this tree.

Coming to Berry Glen Trail once more, I headed down. I think the new trail might travel past better trees, but decided to take the old one all the way down to complete the loop.

Fruit like this red baneberry provide some color while flowers are scarce, but the fruit is scarce too.

A huge collection of big trees.

Pearly everlasting showing there are flowers.

Surprising to see the redwood sorrel still soggy from the morning. Some of these had a couple flowers. (The Oxalis oregana specifically, since they've decided to recognize that a long ago suggested split of these is valid.)

Coastal monkeyflowers.

Just past the junction, Berry Glen Trail does indeed climb a short way up onto the ridge to pass by a couple redwood stumps as it steps into the edge of logged area. It does tend to stay under old growth as it drops.

The remains of a lesser giant that is still bigger than any regrowth.

A varied thrush at the far reach of the 50x zoom. All zoom, no crop, a little fuzzy.

Under the old growth redwoods that end just a short way to the right.

Mexican hedgenettle.

An impressive tree to the right with a great burn scar and a smaller one to the left with more burn almost make it hard to notice my favorite floating western hemlock in the middle.

The roots that anchor the airy side of the hemlock, which has another impressive redwood behind it.

The fire hollowed shell of an old trunk still stands.

Of course the traveling trail gets to where it is going eventually. I popped out the bottom onto the old road. I once tried to continue along this road, but it was thick with forest duff and blocked by fallen trees. Now the trees are moved and the duff is thinned by the occasional passage of a work truck, but generally left as is until I reached the junction with Crooked Trail once more. The old asphalt is largely intact under the debris, but there is one spot where a gravel patch was put down. Sometimes I noticed old logging tracks running just above the grade.

The old paved road has been cleared to be hiking and biking trail.

Pale oyster mushrooms working on some of the logs at the side.

More distinct evidence of logging on the way.

The big leaf maple are starting to turn already.

At the junction, I decided to make one more round to the top of Crooked Trail. It was either for the extra exercise or for the extra GPS information for later adding it to the map. Whichever seems more absurd, that's why. I wouldn't have had time to do it had I parked in the main lot.

A northern red-legged frog hopped past me.

Besides having nice soft trail full of duff where the rest was cleaned, I found treasures in the little Loop.

A hawk had a meal of a band-tailed pigeon here.

Protozoa! Dog vomit slime mold.

Back at the bottom, I set to walking all the rest of the trails, taking the lower old road to its end. This is 'O'-lehl 'We-laas (House Trail). A fence and locked gate stretch across the end where it dumps onto US-101. The signs of the mill still sit at this entrance. You'll want to be on channel 13 to contact them before bringing in your load of logs and there's no smoking except in designated areas. There are plans to create another village like the one at Sue Meg State Park in this area of the 'O Rew.

The lower road is cleared until this installation at Keehl Chpaak 'We-No'-o-muen (Redwood It Endures), with a talking sign.

The talking sign will tell you the Marbled Murrelet Story if you've got the 10 minutes. Many of the signs have a longer piece as well as pronunciation of important words.

Peeking out at the twists of the little bit of restored Prairie Creek.

After exploring that dead end, I turned to follow Yey-goh Laas (Trail That Keeps Going Around) through the Outdoor Classroom and past the restoration work on the creek.

Back through the absurdly flat prairie to the main portion of 'O Rew.

The Outdoor Classroom has a cluster of signs and seating.

Prairie Creek was given a channel closer to its historic channel away from the edge of the highway, winding through the prairie, with extra arms that give salmon places to hide in high water. The wood is installed to slow the flow.

Gravel trail continues to wind around the open space.

The signs along the trail are an artistic multilingual exploration of the life cycle of salmon.

The further reaches of the trail pass prairie replanted with culturally significant plants that will be of use when they grow up. The coyote bush was all in bloom.

Back at the after hours parking. The stark end of logging is still visible in the hillside above Redwood Creek beyond.

I made another round on the Trail That Keeps Going Around before heading off since, hey, you can't have too much GPS information. Besides, it does keep going around.

The main information signs at the Gathering Place are sheltered under a traditional roof with traditional stools for sitting nearby.

*photo album*




©2026 Valerie Norton
Published 6 Sep 2026