DUTCH FLAT TRAILHEAD

Dutch Flat Trailhead is a small rustic site which accesses the Dutch Flat Creek basin and the North Fork John Day Wilderness. Trail #1607 begins at the trailhead. The site has a stock loading ramp and hitching rails. Between Van Patten Butte and Twin Mountain, Dutch Flat Trail follows the creek gradually ascending through a forest of spruce, larch, ponderosa and lodgepole pine to Dutch Flat Meadow. The long meadow offers secluded campsites along the edges. From here the trail climbs steadily to Dutch Flat Lake trail. The trail continues and switchbacks across a rocky slope passing small subalpine meadows to reach the Elkhorn Crest Trail #1611 at Dutch Flat Saddle. Looking over the sheer east edge of the mountain crest Dutch Flat Lake can be seen in the basin below.