We arrived at the trailhead Friday night and trekked in toward Lower Ashland Lake. We knew the weather forecast wasn't going to be great, but unfortunately we ended up getting a lot more rain than we anticipated. All the campsites flooded since the ground surrounding the lake is so saturated with water. We ended up leaving a day early, but definitely plan to come back later in the season.

This is not a good destination for backpacking on a rainy weekend unless you plan on camping atop the wooden tent platforms and have long rope for anchoring your rain fly. There are four platforms at Lower Ashland, two on each side of the lake, and probably 10-15 tent spaces on land.

Nice Hike, road was rather rough getting up but my Highlander didn’t have trouble, drive with caution with small cars. The hike itself was well maintained, with boardwalks and bridges present. Make sure you visit all 3 lakes and pack bug spray (emphasis on bug spray). There are camp sites with firepits at all lakes. Lower Ashland is definitely the prettiest but eating on Beaver Plant lake’s boardwalk was really nice too! Watch for frogs and diving beetles in the shallow water if you’re looking for wildlife. Verdict: great hike, not a definite return but wouldn’t mind doing it again!

This was a wonderful hike. It is a bit of a climb but not bad at all. There are numerous areas with boardwalks and they do get slippery when wet. Some of them slope a bit and there are numerous steps along them. There is a vault toilet at the trailhead but no toilet paper. There are also porta potties at all the camping areas (Upper & Lower Ashland Lakes & Beaver Plant Lake). We chose a campsite at Upper Ashland Lake because of reports of wooden tent platforms at Lower Ashland Lake. We day hiked down to Lower Ashland Lake, which is about a 15 minute walk. They do have two large wooden tent platforms but there were other sites where you could put a tent up on the ground. We tried going to Twin Falls but stopped were you have to cross a very large, wet, slippery log to cross a stream. My wife wasn't up for that and that decision probably saved my life. My daughter and I tried fishing in Upper Ashland Lake with no luck. We never even saw one fish rise the whole time we were there. On the hike back, we stopped at Beaver Plant Lake, which in my opinion is the prettiest of the three. We may try to camp there next time. There were a LOT of bugs. Every time we stood still, bugs swarmed around us. We wore a lot of bug spray, which seemed to work. Bugs rarely landed on us.

The road to the trailhead is rough in places but any car can make it if they're careful. We saw someone in a Cooper Mini at the trailhead.

I feel like you can’t start a trip report from Ashland Lakes without talking about the road. Yep, it’s every bit as bad as every other report says it is. For reference, I drove a Toyota Tundra to the trailhead. One of the potholes was big enough to fit the entire truck. Seriously. All four tires were in. It was also filled with water so it was like driving through a pond. That said, just drive slow. Most cars can make it.

We arrived at the trailhead at 11:00 on a Saturday morning and there were no parking spaces available. So I kept driving and found a pullout about two hundred feet further down the road with room for about two vehicles. Speaking of parking, remember that this is a Washington Discover Pass trailhead. I noticed about half the cars were sporting Northwest Forest Passes hanging from their mirrors, even though there is a giant sign as you enter the parking area reminding you that you need a Discover Pass. Kudos to the guy who had both a Northwest Forest Pass and a Discover Pass in his window. Way to cover your bases! And shame on the two vehicles that didn’t show any pass… may karma and a ranger catch up to them.

Anyway, hitting the trail, the first half mile or so are easy going. You’ll come to a nice sturdy bridge crossing a creek. After that it starts to climb a bit and the trail becomes rougher. There’s plenty of slippery boardwalk (I slipped twice over the course of the weekend), exposed roots, and slippery rocks. I was with a group of Boy Scouts ranging in age from 11 to 15 and they all navigated it like they were pros.

The first lake is Beaver Plant Lake, it was my favorite of the three. There are a couple of campsites here, but none are suitable for a group so we had to keep moving. But if you are looking for a nice place to camp, there is an especially nice site for just one tent that’s next to the creek at the outlet of the lake.

It’s a short and easy hike from Beaver Plant to Upper Ashland Lake. Upper Ashland has more campsites, and they were mostly full when we got there. So we decided to head down to Lower Ashland. The descent was relatively steep, so we were hopeful that we’d find a spot to camp there since we weren’t looking forward to carrying our heavy packs back up the hill the same day. We were starting to get discouraged when we got to the lower lake and found the first campsite taken. It was a fairly large site that had exactly one tent in it. We kept going and found a much larger campsite just down the trail.

For reference, we had five tents in our group. Later in the evening a large family came in looking for a spot. We shared the space with them, they had four tents. We probably could have fit two more tents in the area if needed. So if you are hiking with a group Lower Ashland Lake should be your destination.

Sunday morning we hiked out, and when we got back to the trailhead the parking lot was even more full than the day before. On our way back down the mountain we passed seven more cars headed up. Apparently being featured as Craig Romano’s Hike of the Week has given this hike some new popularity. Then again, it was nothing like the mess at Lake Twentytwo that we passed on our way home…

I hadn't hiked this trail since last Memorial Day and was pleased to see that the road there, while still rough with some significant potholes, has been improved, and the trail itself is mostly in good condition with new signs and even port-a-potties at the campsites. A friend and I hiked on a cloudy, and ultimately slightly wet day, but it was a beautiful hike. The bog laurels, western mountain ash, and bunch berries are blooming. The bugs around the lakes were pretty bad, so we ended up eating lunch on a mid-trail bench.  There is one tree down across the trail between the upper and lower lakes, but it was fairly easy to climb over. 

It took us a little under two hours to hike the entire length of the trail. A few tips: yes, this trailhead requires a Discover Pass, apparently inside a state natural area. We learned from the ranger that if you have the NWFS pass instead, just park down the road before the Discover Pass sign, where you are in National Forest area. 

The other tip is when you reach what seems like a T, follow the signs for Lower Ashland Lake, and then at the fork, go right following the sign to "trail camp." The left fork takes you to a mini-pond of water. At the T, if you go right, you will head towards some campsites and not the trail to continue on. 

According to the map, you can go around the upper lake, but we forgot to head towards the group campfire on our return from the lower lake, hence did not explore that option. 

This is a great easy hike. Glad to see all the work done here!