From June 19–21, NWTA and Orogenesis Collective gathered in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest for a weekend of stewardship, community building, and trail restoration. Together, volunteers returned to the Tillicum Trail to complete work that began during last year’s campout, bringing new life to a historic trail that had gone largely unmaintained for what was likely more than a decade.
The Tillicum Trail is part of the Loowit Tier of the Orogenesis Route, an ambitious mountain bike route connecting the US/Canadian border to the tip of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. Prior to our work, the trail was choked with fallen logs, encroaching brush, and years of accumulated neglect. Through the combined efforts of volunteers over the past two years, the trail has been transformed. What was once difficult to follow is now cleared, accessible, and full of the playful character that makes for a memorable mountain bike experience.
The word Tillicum (or Tillikum) comes from the Chinookan language and means “people.” Throughout the weekend, that meaning resonated deeply with our crew. Stewardship is often thought of as caring for trails, but at its core, it is about people. It is about community members coming together to care for the places they love so that others can experience adventure, connection, and nature. Whether someone explores public lands by mountain bike, on foot, horseback, or simply by spending time outdoors, those opportunities exist because people dedicate their time and energy to stewarding these shared landscapes.
Thanks to the hard work and determination of our volunteers, the remaining work on the Tillicum Trail was completed in a single day rather than the two days originally planned. With time and energy to spare, the crew shifted its focus to the Bluff Trail on the neighboring ridgeline to the north.
This pivot allowed volunteers to brush and log out approximately half of the Bluff Trail, an often-overlooked non-motorized gem in the Lewis River corridor. By the end of the weekend, not only had the Tillicum Trail restoration been completed, but significant progress had also been made on another trail that deserves greater attention and use.
Projects like this accomplish far more than clearing trails. They reconnect communities to forgotten routes, strengthen partnerships, build lasting friendships, and create opportunities for people to invest in the places they care about. They also move us one step closer to realizing the vision of the Orogenesis Route, a first-of-its-kind mountain bike route stretching the length of the Pacific mountain ranges from Canada into Mexico.
NWTA is grateful to Orogenesis Collective, our dedicated volunteers, and the many partners who make this work possible. Together, we’re not only restoring trails, but we’re also building community and creating lasting access to adventure for future generations.
Events like this are made possible through the support of NWTA members. Membership dollars help fund stewardship projects, volunteer programs, trail advocacy, and partnerships that keep trails open and accessible. If you’d like to support work like this, consider becoming an NWTA member and help us continue building community through stewardship and recreation.
Photo credit: James Thomas and Josef Hoffman