Thursday, September 5, 2024

Fort Robinson State Park: Red Cloud Buttes Loop

It was a pleasant drive from Montrose to Fort Robinson. Upon entering the park, I drove to the lodge/visitor center and picked up a copy of the new trails map. Then, I decided to go check out the Cheyenne Outbreak Monument, which I had seen before from a distance, but never explored up close. 


The monument memorializes the Cheyenne who, escaping confinement at Red Cloud Agency (which would later become Fort Robinson), were found in their hiding place on Antelope Creek in January of 1879. Upon their discovery, a skirmish developed, and 64 Cheyenne were killed. More information can be found here.

The site is a bit sad. There's no sign marking the turn off to it. When I arrived a low, temporary cattle fence surrounded it. It almost feels like the people at Fort Robinson don't want visitors there. After contemplating the events memorialized by the marker, I drove to the trailhead for my hike.

The trailhead was a little difficult to find, as it wasn't clear that I was allowed to drive my car to it at first. I did find and drive the road and set off for my hike on a dusty, wide dirt trail.


Sunflowers decorated the side of the trail here and there.


My destination for the hike would be Lover's Leap, which I've hiked to before, but from a different direction. Periodically, the trail offered views of the surrounding landscape. 




I made the climb up to the summit of Lovers Leap, but the smoke in the air meant that the views were not very clear. While the views were lovely, the most noteworthy aspect of the hike was how poorly the trails were built. They were extremely steep and often eroded. Because we haven't had much rain lately, they were extremely dusty. While I think the views and scenery are some of the best around, I don't understand how Nebraska State Parks builds and maintains its trails. With better built trails I feel like western Nebraska could attract hikers from all over the region.

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