Robbers Cave State Park

In the late 1800s this corner of what is now Oklahoma was Indian Territory, land held by the Choctaw Nation and beyond the easy reach of federal marshals. Rugged, remote, and thickly wooded, the San Bois Mountains made ideal cover for men on the run, and the sandstone cave, with its hidden rooms and commanding view of the approaches, became legendary as a bandit lair.

Stories tie the cave to Belle Starr, the so-called Bandit Queen who lived in the region, and to the James and Dalton gangs, though hard evidence is thin and much of it is folklore grown over the decades. What is certain is that the cave is a real natural hideout and that the lawlessness of Indian Territory in that era was equally real. The Choctaw Nation remains centered in this part of Oklahoma today.

The rock at Robbers Cave is sandstone, laid down hundreds of millions of years ago and later uplifted and folded when the Ouachita Mountains formed. Weathering carved the stone into ledges, crevices, and the cavelike hollows that give the park its name, and the same forces shaped the boulder-strewn ridges and bluffs that hikers scramble across today.

The Ouachita and San Bois highlands are unusual among American mountains for running east to west rather than north to south, the result of an ancient collision of continents. The forested, folded landscape they left behind gives southeast Oklahoma a green, hilly character quite different from the plains, and the park showcases it at its best.

The park holds three lakes, Lake Carlton, Lake Wayne Wallace, and Coon Creek Lake, offering fishing for bass and catfish, paddling, and swimming. A network of trails threads the hills for hikers, backpackers, and horseback riders, and the park has long been a destination for scout camps and family outings, with a nature center interpreting the landscape.

Much of the park's infrastructure dates to the 1930s, when the Civilian Conservation Corps built stone-and-timber structures, trails, and the dams that made the lakes during the Great Depression. Their handsome native-stone craftsmanship still gives the park much of its character, part of the same nationwide effort that shaped so many American parks in that era.

The forested hills support white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, raccoons, and bobcats, and black bears have returned to this part of Oklahoma in recent decades, so proper food storage matters. The lakes and streams draw herons, kingfishers, and waterfowl, and the woods ring with songbirds and woodpeckers through the warmer months.

Fall is the signature season, when the oak and hickory forest turns gold and russet and visitors come for the color, one of the best displays in the state. Spring brings wildflowers, green woods, and full lakes. Summer is warm and busy with campers drawn to the water, while winter is quiet and stark, the bare ridges and sandstone standing out against the gray hills.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.