Robber's Cave State Park - Wilburton, Oklahoma

 

Robber's Cave State Park came highly recommended by a lot of equestrians. 

When we arrived on a Saturday, we were one of three equestrian campers at the campground. All the other campers were non-equestrians. They were noisy and annoying.

By Monday morning, we were the only campers left in the entire campground and it was peaceful and quiet.

Getting to our campsite was a bit of a challenge. The road in was quite narrow and there were trees on both sides. It is a back-in site and it is not laid out well for large trailers.

We had water and electric hook-up. There is an RV dump at this campground. There are also showers, bathrooms, and a playground for kids.

The campground also features a mounting block for wheelchair users.

It is located in the middle of the campground.

We were warned the trails here are rocky, so we put boots on both horses. Lennox is wearing Cavallo boots. Mercutio has Scoot Boots.

We use socks and liners to prevent sores from the boots rubbing on their ankles.

As promised, the trails were rocky, but not steep or too bad. However, it is turkey hunting season, so about half the trails were closed to riders. I didn't know that this was happening. They close the trails from mid-October to the end of December.

I was a little frustrated because the trails we could access took us parallel to the main road, so we were subjected to a lot of traffic noise. We weren't close to the road, but it was annoying.

When we got back, I asked one of the other equestrian campers if she could take my husband out hoping she could show him some better trails.

They were gone a good three hours. When they got back, Ari said it was an awful ride. Apparently, it was a mother and daughter and they did not get along.

The daughter spent half the ride complaining about her horse - a 6 yo mare that kept spooking.

The mom's saddle was not cinched properly and Ari was worried she was going to get into a wreck. He offered to fix it for her, but she refused.

Halfway through the ride, the women swapped horses. The mom thought her daughter would be more comfortable on her mount. 

So, then the daughter complained for the rest of the ride about how she was constantly having to kick that horse to get him to go.

Ari also noticed that the tack they were using looked brand new. He thought they were both inexperienced riders.

He also said the trails weren't that great, but Lennox had a good time.

So, Monday we decided to take the day off from riding and do a hike to see Robber's Cave.

We drove from the campground to the trailhead that takes you to Robber's Cave.

There is a small cave at this trailhead that you can go inside and check out. 

We followed the trail markers up to the top of the ridge. At that point, you look for orange trail markers to guide you to the cave.

It is roughly a 45 minute hike to get to the cave. It is rocky and there are some steep sections.

We got lost several times trying to figure out the trail.

We found the Stone Corral first.

This area was used by Jesse James and the Younger gang to hide out.

They stole horses.

They used the Stone Corral to keep their stolen horses.

The corral is basically a blind with a perimeter of stone walls.

It is about 1/4 mile from the cave. You get to a section of the trail where it divides - with orange markers going down one way and up another.

If you go down, you reach the Stone Corral.

If you go up and climb over some boulders, you will locate the cave.

The gang probably posted lookouts with the horses since it is a distance from the cave.

On the trail heading towards the cave

At the entrance of Robber's Cave.

There is enough room inside for about 20 people.

You could easily build a fire at the cave entrance to cook food and for warmth.

Belle Star, who was also a horse thief, hid here with the Younger gang more than once.

The local Conservation Corps built these stairs to help people get down to the cave.

The cave was not easy to find. Even when we were only yards from the cave, we were still trying to figure out where it was.

No law men ever found the outlaw's hideout while it was being used. 

Ari pointed out that because you have to climb over rocks and boulders to access the cave, you wouldn't leave tracks.

Likewise, to get to the Stone Corral, you would ride over so many rocks and rock faces, there would not be any hoof marks.

Altogether it took us a few hours to hike up to the cave and get back down. It was frustrating to locate. We kept meeting other hikers who were just as bewildered as we were, looking for the cave.

This would be a fun thing to do with kids - have them help you locate where the outlaws hid from the law.

It was definitely a challenge.