Robbers Roost

Taken from the parking area in front of the trail head

Robber's Roost Trail
This is a short loop trail that climbs up a canyon to a couple of caves. It then winds through a forest of pinion pines and mountain mahogany before returning back to the main trail.  Legend has it that Robber's Roost was a hideout for bandits during the days of the old Mormon Trail. The caves not only offered shelter, but also an excellent vantage point for spotting would-be attackers. The canyon had the advantage of terminating near the caves, thus giving the outlaws the ability to easily fence off the back of the canyon as a corral.  This corral was a place where robbers could exchange their trail-weary horses for fresh, strong ones. Many times the bandits concealed stolen goods and livestock at Robber's Roost; booty that had been snatched from travelers en route to California and Utah.  Trail access: Travel 3.2 miles north on state route 158 (Deer Creek Road) from state route 157 (Kyle Canyon Road). On the right is a parking area and the trailhead is on the left.

It was snowing when we got to the parking area, which was kinda nice.  Although, once again we did not check the maps to see exactly where we where going and somehow managed to take the wrong trail, despite the BIG sign that said "ROBBERS ROOST TRAIL HEAD" across the street. So a very short hike turned out to be a 2 to 3 hour extravaganza.  We were able to get some nice photos and see some beautiful country that had a fresh layer of snow.  The only other issue was that one of us wore our tennis shoes, instead of water resistant hiking boots, to walk through 6 to 8 inches of snow.  We will not say which one, but you may be able to guess from the picture.

Freezing feet aside, here are some of the wonderful discoveries and adventures we experienced on the wrong trails.

After giving up on finding the right trial and deciding to go home, Natalie saw the large sign across the street that read: Robbers Roost. In our opinion, the real trail was pretty easy and not as exciting as the wrong trail.  There are a couple of caves that we did not explore due to slippery rocks and Natalie's "toecicles".  So after a short quesadilla break, we made the short hike back to the car. These are some of the photos from the real trail.