Big Flat Guard Station
- Right now
- Closedrecreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend, read 15:37 UTC
- Sites
- 1In the agency’s record
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 1 notices
In the agency’s own words
Big Flat Guard Station ******************Big Flat Guard Station is CLOSED for the rest of 2026 due to the Cottonwood Wildfire.*************************************** ****NOVEMBER-JUNE 15 YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO ACCESS THE SITE WITH A VEHICLE DUE TO SNOW AND WINTER CONDITIONS. YOU WILL NEED TO USE A SNOWMOBILE, SNOWSHOES, CROSS COUNTRY SKIIS TO BE ABLE TO USE AND GET TO THE GUARD STATION.**** Big Flat Guard Station is located on the Fishlake National Forest about 25 miles East of Beaver Utah. The cabin sits in the middle of Big Flat about 2 miles after the pavement ends at Puffer Lake on State Road 153. Keep reading
The station was built in about 1908 and provides a great base camp for recreation activities such as relaxing, OHV riding, horseback riding, wildlife viewing, hunting, hiking, wildflower viewing, and fishing. Directions: The Big Flat Guard Station is located approximately 24 miles east of Beaver, Utah. From Beaver, Utah take UT-153 east for about 24 miles. About 1 mile after you pass the Timid Springs turn off, Turn right onto FR652 into the site. From Junction, Utah travel west 6 miles on paved UT-153 then approximately another 11 miles on dirt road section of UT-153 to reach the Big Flat Guard Station which is approximately 2 miles North of Buck Ridge Restroom. There is a sign that says Big Flat Guard Station at the entrance to the cabin. It is tucked away in the trees between Timid Springs and the Main meadow in Big Flat area. 38.288333N -112.358611W NOVEMBER-JUNE 15 YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO ACCESS THE SITE WITH A VEHICLE DUE TO SNOW AND WINTER CONDITIONS. YOU WILL NEED TO USE A SNOWMOBILE, SNOWSHOES, CROSS COUNTRY SKIIS TO BE ABLE TO USE AND GET TO THE GUARD STATION. Guard Station will NOT be available for rent on Wednesdays. This is for administrative purposes.
Recreation
Hiking, biking, OHV riding and Horseback riding are popular activities in the area. The Paiute 01 OHV trail passes within 1.5 miles from the guard station. Two popular non-motorized trails: The Skyline Rec Trail and the Hi Hunt 228 trail are adjacent to the property. The area is also popular among big game hunters for elk and deer in the fall and winter. Groomed snowmobile trails allow access for winter recreation.
Facilities
Facilities: The rustic Big Flat Guard Station is a three-room cabin with a kitchen and two bedrooms. The site can accommodate a maximum of 50 people (10 vehicles), there is only one double bed bunk in one room and two sets of bunk beds in the second room for a capacity of 7 people sleeping inside the building. No linins, bedding, or pillows are provided. RV’s and tents are allowed outside. The cabin is equipped with a kitchen table and chairs, a wood stove, a propane single burner stove, and countertop. There is water available on site, but it is not currently in operation (date to be determined). Dishes, utensils, cooking pans are supplied. Towels, bedding, soap, water *and other needed supplies will need to be brought with the guests. A vault toilet is located adjacent to the cabin, plus a fire circle, benches, and a picnic table. Some lighting is available in the cabin powered by solar panels. No pets are allowed in the Guard Station. No smoking allowed in the Guard Station No garbage service is available; pack-out all you pack-in. No shooting within 150 yards of the facility. Guests are required to keep the facility clean during their stay and are expected to leave the facility cleaner than you found it. Maid service is not available. Reservation ends at 11:00 AM and the facility needs to be clean and ready for the next group. Your reservation begins at 2:00 PM, **please do not arrive early.
Natural Features
The Big Flat Guard station is situated in a high elevation meadow at approximately 10,000 feet. It is backed by aspen and conifers leaving the front open to view the meadow. Often in the summer deer, elk and other wildlife can be seen from the front porch along with the occasional forest service mounts grazing in the adjacent pasture. City Creek Peak, Delano Peak and Mt. Holly can be seen from the Big Flat area. Summer days are warm and nights are cool. Guests should be prepared for all types of mountain weather during their stay.
Nearby Attractions
Big Flat Guard Station is located near many non-motorized and motorized trailheads such as the Paiute ATV trail system and the Skyline National Trail, Eagle Point Ski Resort, many mountain lakes such as Puffer Lake, Three Creaks Reserveroir, and Labaron Reservoir, high mountain peaks such as Mt. Delano, Mt. Holly, and many more. Rock Climbing can be done near Three Creeks Reservoir, wildlife viewing all around the Guard Station and Forest Service roads.
What the agency tells you
The site is not available for walk- up: use by reservation only on Rec.gov. A maximum of 50 people are allowed within the guard station site per reservation. Only 7 people are allowed to sleep inside the building. Check-out time is 12:00 PM and check-in time is 2:00 PM. Parking is available for RVs on the concrete pad located on the north side of the cabin. No RV hookups. The driveway loop is to remain unblocked and passable for administrative access at all times. No pets are allowed in the Guard Station. No smoking in Guard Station. This is a pack it in, pack it out facility; bring trash bags and remove all trash upon departure. Firewood for the campfire ring and wood stove may not be available, please plan accordingly. During off season use (Winter) wood is kept in wood shed on site near the cabin. Limited cleaning supplies are provided, guests must clean up after their stay. No electricity, Cabin is equipped with solar powered lights, running water (Summer only). Barn Facilities and pastures are off limits to the public; for administrative use only. Please do not open any gates or get in the pastures with the Forest Service horses. Do Not Move Firewood: Help prevent the spread of tree-killing pests in our national forests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…need to be brought with the guests. A vault toilet is located adjacent to the cabin, plus a fire…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…burner stove, and countertop. There is water available on site, but it is not currently in operation (date…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, Lake, Creek, Meadow
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Hunting
- Ice Fishing
- Mountain biking
- Mountain Climbing
- Off Highway Vehicle Trails
- Off Road Vehicle Trails
- Picnicking
- Ranger Station
- Climbing
- Scenic drives
- Skiing
- Fall color · reported 14 days ago, 31 km away
- Patchy color
Nothing to book until it reopensread 15:37 UTC
recreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend
Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.
Tell me when it reopens
Watch for it to come back
One email when the agency reopens it, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check the agency’s own record once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time it stops saying closed.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 4
Why this page can’t say why
recreation.gov lists every site at Big Flat Guard Station closed this Friday and Saturday night. The U.S. Forest Service has published no closure notice we hold, so this page can’t say why, and it won’t fill the gap with a guess. A closed night isn’t a sold-out one: the reservations its record still carries were taken before the sites were closed.
There’s no notice to quote and no reason to argue with, so this page offers you the watch and the list below, and no letter.
Open within 60 miles · 4
The agency’s own word that these are open, not our reading of a season.
- Gooseberry CampgroundFishlake National Forest · 20 mi · walk-up
- Little Reservoir CampgroundFishlake National Forest · 39 mi · walk-up
- Upper Six Mile Ponds CampgroundManti-La Sal National Forest · 43 mi · walk-up
- Fruita CampgroundCapitol Reef National Park · 51 mi · 72 sites
recreation.gov availability, read 15:37 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites
All 1 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Big Flat Guard Station | Big Flat Guard Station | cabin nonelectric | $50–$75 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Mt Terrill Guard StationFishlake National Forest · 18 mi
Doctor CreekFishlake National Forest · 19 mi
Adelaide CampgroundFishlake National Forest · 19 mi
Twin Creeks PicnicFishlake National Forest · 19 mi
MackinawFishlake National Forest · 19 mi
Bowery Creek CampgroundFishlake National Forest · 19 miThe Big Flat Guard Station is located approximately 24 miles east of Beaver, Utah. From Beaver, Utah take UT-153 east for about 24 miles. About 1 mile after you pass the Timid Springs turn off, Turn right onto FR652 into the site. From Junction, Utah travel west 6 miles on paved UT-153 then approximately another 11 miles on dirt road section of UT-153 to reach the Big Flat Guard Station which is approximately 2 miles North of Buck Ridge Restroom. There is a sign that says Big Flat Guard Station at the entrance to the cabin. It is tucked away in the trees between Timid Springs and the Main meadow in Big Flat area.
November-June you may not be able to access site with a vehicle due to snowy winter conditions. You will need to use a snowmobile, snowshoes, cross country skiis to be able to use and get to this site.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Annabella, UT
Typical weather
Typical October night 32°F, day 68°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 16°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Big Flat Guard Station is in Utah’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Celeste Maloy (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →