However, not all bent trees are markers toward a certain direction. There are a few important details that you need to keep an eye out for when trying to decipher the differences.
Many of the bent trees you see while exploring the great outdoors are nature’s doing (like the image you see below). A vast majority of the trees bent by Native Americans decades and decades ago have a noticeable nose, or notch that juts out at the end of the bend (seen above). This was created by inserted a piece of the tree into a hole and allowing the tree to grow around it.