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Published: March 18th 2012
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Windmill and White River valley
The White River Valley stretches behind the windmill along the bluff trail, Fort Robinson State Park. Welcome to the west. Today, I explored
Fort Robinson State Park.
The park is known for both natural beauty and history, so I spent a day on each.
Today is nature.
The park is located in the middle of the White River Valley.
The valley is the first on the trip that appears like the stereotype of a western landscape, towering bluffs covered in pine trees surrounding a wide open valley.
In many ways, it is an appetizer for what is to come.
My main activity was a hike to and through the bluffs closest to the actual fort.
I used it as a warm up.
The landscape is like the ones I will encounter later on a smaller scale.
The trail starts by passing through a wide open field with the bluffs in the distance.
It’s very tempting to just rush straight toward them, but this is a bad idea.
First, it would disturb the grass and the animals that depend on it.
Secondly, the grass is filled with
ticks that carry disease.
About halfway to the bluffs, the trail reached a windmill.
The view from this spot was huge, taking in
Fort Robinson Bluffs
View of the sandstone bluffs from the windmill along the trail the entire valley and the hills on the other side.
It finally felt like the mythic west.
The windmill is only a half-mile from the main fort, but it felt isolated in this vast landscape.
With the breeze blowing, how the windmill pump worked was obvious.
The water, incidentally, must be purified before drinking.
A half hour later, the trail finally reached the bluffs.
First, pine trees appeared along the trail as it followed a ravine.
They ultimately form a green tunnel.
Pass through this, and the trail reached a grotto surrounded by steep rocky bluffs.
It’s very pretty.
A grill and picnic tables are in the center of the grotto.
Apparently, the park has western cookouts here on the weekends; it’s a great setting for them.
From the grotto, the trail switchbacked up the bluffs.
The difference between these bluffs and those further west became very apparent at this point.
The climb took all of fifteen minutes, while further west it can take hours.
The bluffs are made of sandstone aggregate with imbedded rocks.
Once at the
Cookout area
The Fort Robinson trail ride cookout area, at the base of the bluffs top, the trail reaches a junction with another that follows the top of the ridge.
It ultimately makes a loop.
The official trail mostly passes through pine forest and mountain meadows.
Along it people have created trails of use that go to the tops of the bluffs themselves.
These unofficial trails are popular, so they are easy enough to follow.
The bluff tops have long views of the surrounding area.
Since the tops are slippery sandstone, watch footing carefully.
It’s a ways down.
Heading back, I noticed what looked like a steep trail heading down toward the grotto.
Although people have certainly used it, taking it showed it to be more like a drainage ditch than a real trail.
I have enough scrambling experience that I was able to follow it.
The views of the bluffs along the way were great.
It finally ended at the edge of the picnic area, and I took the main trail back.
The hike ultimately left me wanting more.
This was the real west, but it was also a small appetizer.
The cliffs look great,
Fort Robinson from the bluffs
Fort Robinson and the White River valley from the top of the bluffs. The trail from the fort to the bluffs is the dark line in the middle of the picture but they are short to climb.
The fields look vast, but are actually pretty small for this area.
It was a nice warm up, but no more than that.
I had dinner tonight at the Fort Robinson dining room.
The restaurant is located in the old enlisted men’s mess.
The entire room is decorated with western military memorabilia, most related to men who served at the fort.
The menu is heavy with meat, most of it locally raised.
I had a truly western delicacy, buffalo steak.
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