Fantastic day for a hike, so we thought we would try out this stretch of trail. The road was not in the best shape, lots of pot holes and very close quarters if you need to pass someone going the other direction.  Also watch out for the boat that is on the side of the road, looks like it has been there a while and it is taking up valuable road space.  We arrived to the lot by 1pm and made great time to the lower lake where we enjoyed a snack and headed back. We were going to push for twin falls lake, but the trail looked a little sketchy and we were worried about time.  At times we felt like we had the forest to ourselves, and only saw two other families. 

The road is pretty bad. Lots of potholes and it's impossible to avoid a number of them. A regular car probably could make it up, but I wouldn't recommend it unless the driver has some experience with these sorts of roads, and you'd probably still bottom out a few times. 

The trail condition is in stark contrast to the road condition! It's very well signed, and the boardwalks make it easy to stay out of the mud for most of the hike. However, some parts of the trail still go through rocky and rooty terrain, which are slippery when wet and require a bit of extra attention.

Best part: blueberries the whole way! Many of the berries were still not completely ripe, so it should be really great in a week or two. 

The campgrounds look like nice places to spend the night and have fire pits and port-o-potties. For those not camping, there are some wooden decks to sit on and enjoy the lakes. There were no mosquitoes this trip, which was a nice surprise.

The drive up was horrible! The moment you turn onto the FS road you hit 3 potholes. The drive all the way up are loaded with potholes. I have an SUV so I was able to clear them. When we arrived around 10:30 am there were 2 other cars at the TH (found out these were the overnight people). We were the first ones on the trail this day; I know this because we ran into/cleared a lot of the spider webs 😳😬🕷🕸 

This hike was a gem! So glad this hike was recommended to me. 3 lakes, hands down the easiest hike I’ve ever done and can easily be an overnight hike. I’ve been keeping an eye out for an easy overnight hike to do with kids (because we’d be carrying most of the load). This was also a fun hike because of all the wood planks you are walking across; in some areas it felt like a rain forest because of all the greenery and large skunk cabbage plants. I liked how there was a port a potty at each of the lakes and a few nice camp sites with fire pits. This hike is everything you’re looking for if you’re hiking with kids and plan on doing an overnight; bathroom, camp site, lake, views, a cool log bridge. Bugs? What bugs... well... a few flies here and there but nothing to complain about. Barely any flies, even when we sat down to eat. We didn’t go to Beaver lake but went to both Ashland lakes; nice short hike. I highly recommend this trail for beginners or families. The drive up is a pain 😒