Myself and 5 kids stayed 2 nights at Lower Ashland Lake. The hike was fairly easy- even my 7 yr old made it with no problems. The trail is in great condition. Bugs were pretty bad from 8pm to dark. We saw a few fish jumping but no bites. The lake is very shallow and warm. Kids swam all day. Great weather. 2 kids slept in hammocks. The road is in pretty bad shape. Several cars made it to the trailhead but I’m not sure how. Massive pot holes all the way up. Great hike, great campsites, very beautiful up there.

Husband and I backpacked to Beaver Plant Lake for a quick overnight. The road was really rough-if you're not careful you can bottom out (even in our Highlander). One side of the road is completely underwater and you have to drive on a curve that looks like it has been slowly eroding from cars having to drive awkwardly on it.

The parking lot was full when we arrived at about 10am but, we were able to park alongside the road. The trail is in good condition. The planks through the wetland areas are really cool! Make sure to watch your step though! 

Both campsites at Beaver Plant Lake were open but one unfortunately had a lot of trash and was even tagged! The mosquitoes were only a slight annoyance (it was cool and breezy when we got to the lake) until nightfall when they started swarming and we were able to retreat into our tent. Berries are out!

The road to the trailhead is pretty rough. We have a Ford Focus and we made it, but it was a challenge (we actually bottomed out a couple of times). If your strategic in your route you should make it just fine though. The trail itself is great. It’s surprisingly in great shape and well maintained. There are lots of boardwalks that raise you over marshy areas. It’s a pretty easy hike that leads to three beautiful lakes. I would recommend this trail for everyone! Make sure you check out the video below to see how beautiful this trail really is!

The road up was terrible but we made it. At the last of the lakes along this trail, the walk doesn’t go all the way around the lake. Had to wack bushes and thorns out of our way just to get all the way around the lake. Took a hour but we gave up fighting the brush and walked along the lake in the water. Was nice tho. Bugs everywhere. PACK BUGSPRAY!!!!

This was our first trip to Ashland lakes and it was very excellent! We decided last minute to do an overnight hike the day before Independence Day. This was a quick hike to the first camp spot, so we were able to get up there and get camp set up after work. There was nobody else on the hike and it's less than 2 miles to the first lake, which had several good camping spots. I would suggest going on to the last of the three lakes, as there were less bugs and plenty of fire wood already cut. There are porta-potties at all three lakes. The first lake had suffered some tagging recently and had a lot of trash left over from the last inconsiderate visitors, so we cleaned it up as best we could before heading down. Please be sure to pick up others trash and not just your own. 

We went to the end of the trail, and were glad we did, as we saw salamanders and snakes at the last stopping point. We also saw several frogs and were put to sleep by the croaking of countless frogs and the sound a a waterfall close by. This is definitely a hike I will be doing again with my two young sons and will suggest it to their cubscout leader. 

I agree that the bugs are bad up there so be prepared for that. 

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did