Robbers Cave

Technically this blog is "Hiking in Arkansas", but because of our location (NWArkansas), we actually have fairly easy access to Missouri and Oklahoma. We do have amazing trails here we have yet to discover, but once in a while we venture over to other states. That is what we did yesterday.

Robbers Cave State Park is about three hours from us (maybe 2 1/2...we stopped for lunch along the way) in Wilburton, OK. If I remember correctly, we took 540 to 271 then near Wilburton we took 270. That is the simplified version. :)

Once you get to the State Park, just go in the main entrance and follow the signs to the trail.

The trail is only about a half mile long but it is a workout. It involves a lot of climbing, so I am classifying it as strenuous. I am feeling every bit of it in my legs today!

The good news is that you barely have to walk onto the trail to find the fun stuff. It is like a giant playground for kids...rocks everywhere. My kids have become mini rock climbers and eat this stuff up. Right off the bat, we ran into the "Devil's Slide".
One child (and his daddy) successfully climbed up this "Devil's Slide". The rest of us took the stairs.
I think OK has a little more in bloom than we do. Seems like spring is slow in coming this year. But this tree was beautiful!
Here are the "stairs" (they are rocks) up the trail. It was very steep, though we all did it without a lot of huffing and puffing. I do think there is a gentler way up the trail, but either way, you are climbing about 80 feet. We just stuck to this one.
If you are a spelunker, I don't think I would go expecting much of a cave to explore. This "cave" was a hideout years ago for some of the more famous outlaws, such as the James brothers. It is not very deep but it is very steep inside.
After you leave the "cave", you continue along the trail to a beautiful overlook. I will say this was a very popular trail. We saw several large groups along the way. We also got to watch some rock climbers/rappellers.
The overlook was beautiful. Obviously these are bluffs so you want to be careful with your kids. That being said, there was plenty of space to look without being right on the edge, so I never felt nervous.
The trail continues through the woods. After the large rocks, the kids were disappointed with this part, though they found some smaller bluffs to explore. It was pretty though, and I am sure when everything is in full bloom, it is quite lovely. The good part was that is was DOWNHILL.

After following the yellow markers (which clearly marked the trail), we returned to the other side of the large rock hideout. This part was equally fun, if not more since it wasn't as high off the ground. LOTS of areas to explore.


You can see the yellow arrow below which shows which way to go. I found those helpful and comforting when I couldn't keep up with the kids. :)

It was a fun little trail...a good workout and plenty of places to explore. We didn't really see any wildlife other than lots of kids. :) I would recommend it for most...I would probably hesitate to take someone very young on the trail due to the rocks and bluffs. Joshua though did enjoy it and could climb much of it with ease. There were only a couple places that we insisted on holding the hands of the little ones.

We did take part of another trail but didn't get to finish it. Joshua was done at that point. So I guess I will have to go back sometime and try it. :)

Reba