Wenaha River Trail, Crooked Creek — Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

Woo-hoo, the bridge over Crooked Creek is back! The original bridge was lost in the 2015 Grizzly Complex Fire, and Crooked Creek can be a very tricky crossing in the early season without a bridge. Last fall the USFS used GAOA funding to facilitate the bridge replacement, and it's ready for hikers! The approach on the east side of the bridge isn't entirely finished yet, so it's currently a big step up and likely not possible for equestrians. The Forest Service has already completed trail maintenance to the wilderness boundary, and my group worked within the wilderness to brush, do tread repair, and log-out within the wilderness. There are several other volunteer & USFS crews that will be working on the trails in the coming weeks, too, but for now the Wenaha River Trail is clear to roughly the 8 mile mark (minus one overhanging tree we couldn't cut, but it's an easy walk-under for hikers), and Crooked Creek is clear to within about a mile of the Three Forks Trail junction. I've been doing this same trip in late March for several years now, and this was the best one yet for green hillsides and lots of flowers in bloom! We also saw a lot of wildlife on the hillsides, including elk herds and lots of bighorns.