Robbers Cave State Park (Oklahoma)

There were a few reports online indicating that there was mountain biking at this park, so when the wife suggested we go there on vacation, I packed up the bike with high expectations. Unfortunately, the park staff were only able to point me to about 1/2 mile of "bike trail." I never did try that trail and decided instead to try the "Mountain Loop" around the lakes. I can't say that was a good idea, but it was interesting.

The trail started good and was well marked with paint on every other tree....that is, until there was no paint on any trees anywhere. This scenario played itself out several times before the ride was over. I would not recommend this ride to anyone due to the fact that there were several sections that were not ridable by any skill level - they were sections where I had to shoulder the bike and scramble up the hillside. Coming down was exhillarating with 'chest on the seat' action. THe trail was also poorly maintained with respect to fallen trees and overgrown vegetation. I saw no other riders/hikers at all on the trail.

I abandoned the ride about half way (having exhausted my time alotment backtracking over and over again to find the trail) by taking a horsetrail shortcut back in between the two lakes. This trail was much easier to follow and is obviously used on a regular basis by horseriders. I still wouldn't recommend it though due to the loose large rocks on the trail intermixed with deep sandy sections and the potential to spook a horse coming down the trail.

Overall, I don't think the section of trail I rode was more than 2-3 miles and I did manage to include one major "tactical dismount" coming down a very technical and steep switchback.