Nebraska National Forest: Roberts Loop Trail

Today the forecast called for temperatures in the 60s! On Tuesday, the high temperature is forecast to be 4 degrees. We decided to take advantage of the day's nice weather by getting out for a hike. We wanted to hike something new, but we didn't want to have to drive too far. We opted to drive up to Crawford, NE and hike a short 3.1 mile loop in the Nebraska National Forest called the Roberts Loop.

It was an uneventful drive to the trailhead for the hike, a remote site that was once a homestead. 

We had picked up some sandwiches on the way and had a little picnic lunch at the tables there. The site also happens to be a horse campground. After lunch we hit the trail, actually hiking a two-track road to start. 

The road passed a few scattered live ponderosa pines, 

including one that had an old fuel can affixed to it that had been altered into some kind of mailbox-looking thing.

However, many of the pines that we saw along the way had burned in fires in 2006 and 2012.

Despite the evidence of past fires, the scenery was quite nice.

We followed the road until we came to a gate in a fence. From the gate we started follow a proper singletrack footpath. 

The trail gently ascended to an intersection where the Roberts Loop began.

From the start of the loop, the trail began to ascend a bit more steeply.

There were great views up into some of the little side canyons that we passed.

Soon, we reached the top of the ridge where Sierra requested a break to sip some water and rest on a fallen, dead tree.

The trail at the top of the ridge, the Pine Ridge Trail, offered lots of great views in all directions. 

We could even see the Black Hills off to the north. 

After a short walk on the Pine Ridge Trail, we turned onto the second half of the loop and followed a ridge for a bit,

before starting the long, and sometimes steep, descent back down towards the trailhead.

After passing back through the gate, we decided to take the proper trail, rather than the two-track road, back to the trailhead.

It was a great hike, and one that you don't hear people talk about very often. That's probably due to the fact that it's not very close to any towns. I loved all the views out along the Pine Ridge and down to the grasslands below.