Flat Lake Trail. FR34043

Flat Lake is a small stocked fishing lake in the North Creek Lakes area of Dixie National Forest's Escalante Ranger District, part of the same high-plateau lake cluster as Dougherty Basin and reached via the Barker Lakes Loop trail system. Utah's Division of Wildlife Resources stocks it with brook trout, and it sits alongside a backcountry campsite with a bear box and fire pit for those staying overnight.

Getting there

• From Escalante, drive west on Highway 12 to the gravel road between mileposts 55 and 56, cross the creek, then turn onto the road signed for Barker Campground/North Creek Road (Forest Road 149)
• Follow FR 149 roughly 16.5 miles to the Upper Barker Reservoir parking area, where the trail into the lakes begins
• This is Forest Service land, not park land — dispersed camping and dogs are generally fine, unlike inside Bryce Canyon

Confirm current road conditions with the Escalante Ranger District (435-826-5499) before the drive in, since this is a long, high-elevation gravel approach that holds snow into early summer.