This was a very lovely day hike. Barely any incline however; which makes it a little easier if the leaves are slippery but a little less challenging of a workout. Beautiful views and a perfect winter hike. No snow on the trail; just a couple of slippery patches on the wooden bridges and the leaves might get icy/slick. Highly recommend for a 2-2.5 hour day hike in the winter! 

A nice easy hike that still has some leaves on the trees.  There are a lot of leaves on the ground and this hike most likely was prettier a week ago, but there is still some color in the trees.  I saw an old beaver dam but no beaver lodge or beavers.  Still is was a fun hike and the mountains around the hike are beautiful, all covered with a dusting of snow. 

Started out on this trail just after noon. Found a good lunch spot on a gravel bar below a USGS stream gauge station, less than a quarter mile in. Turned around at the washout just past Beaver Lake.

The trail was in good condition, but some sections might get eaten by the river soon. Much of the trail is a green tunnel, which occasional views of the river. Lots of deciduous trees, many of which had started to show fall colors, and some large, old-growth cedars along the final section of the trail.

Didn't see any beavers at Beaver Lake, but could see beaver lodges from the trail.

Only encountered one other person on the trail.

As others have mentioned, the road up to the trailhead has a significant washout about a mile in. I stopped at the Verlot ranger station to ask them about it before venturing up because I wasn't sure my crossover met the criteria for "high clearance". My Honda HR-V handled it no problem, and high clearance generally seems to mean over 8" of ground clearance, for anyone who is wondering. This is the washout from the other side, as we were leaving:

The privy at the trailhead is in rough shape and about full. Bring your own toilet paper (BYOTP)!

We started our hike at 1:30pm and finished around 5:30pm. It was warm, and the bugs (mainly flies) were in full force. It was nice to be on a mostly wooded trail since the sun was blazing over head. Not too crowded. Port-a-potties and new fire rings have been helicopter dropped in to improve some of the overnight camping sites. 

The trail is in ok shape, but there are many areas where vine maples are encroaching on the trail and/or boardwalk. Could use a WTA volunteer trail maintenance crew's loving attention! Wish I'd had a pair of shears with me.

The best part was the second Ashland Lake. We settled in on one of the flat rocks to eat our lunch and watch the clouds roll by. All in all a nice adventure to a pretty, peaceful lake.