Deer Lake #1802

The Deer Lake Trail connects Island Lakes Trail #1842 [https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/whiteriver/recarea/?recid=41229&actid=104] to Chinese Wall Trail #1803 [https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/whiteriver/recarea/?recid=40767]. From Island Lakes Trail, Deer Lake Trail branches north and follows a bench that overlooks the Island Lake and Derby Creek drainages. After 2 miles, the trail becomes steep and narrow as it drops to down to Deer Lake; this section can be hazardous to pack strings. From Deer Lake, the trail climbs 1 mile to the Flat Tops plateau where it joins the Chinese Wall Trail.