Robbers Cave State Park, State park and historic hideout in Latimer County, Oklahoma.
Robbers Cave State Park sits within the Sans Bois Mountains in Latimer County and covers wooded hills, lakes, and rock outcrops. The terrain offers trails through forest, open water for paddling, and cliffs used for climbing.
The area served as a hideout for outlaws including the Youngers, Daltons, and Jesse James during the years following the Civil War. The Civilian Conservation Corps built most of the park facilities and structures during the 1930s.
The name comes from the cave used by outlaws such as Jesse James and Belle Starr after the Civil War. In 1929 Carlton Weaver donated 120 acres near the cave to the Boy Scouts, and prison inmates quarried local rock for Camp Tom Hale's kitchen and other buildings. CCC crews added cabins, trails and shelters in the 1930s.
Trails run through the park at different difficulty levels, and many visitors bring gear for camping or water activities. Lodging ranges from basic campsites to cabins, so planning ahead helps match the level of comfort you prefer.
In 1954 the psychologist Muzafer Sherif ran a study at the Boy Scout camp here with 22 teenage boys, and its results fed into realistic conflict theory. The park entered the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 under reference 96000489.
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