Hiked into the Ashland lakes trail at 11:00 AM on a drizzle covered saturday. The trail was very easy with new boardwalk in places and mud in others. The campgrounds at Twin Falls are closed until later this month due to trail maintanance crews from the Student Conservation Corp. Camping is available at Upper Ashland and Lower Ashland lakes. The lakes are beautiful, but we bailed out when the downpour became constant, and the thunder and lightning started around 4:30 PM. Overall a very easy, scenic hike fit for almost anyone.

We're always looking for nice day hikes, and picked this one out of the ""100 Hikes"" book. We expected lots of mud, but the trail was mostly dry and in good shape; we aren't purists and appreciated all the log walks over the remaining bogs. It's such a nice, easy hike to the lakes that we decided to continue to Twin Falls Lake for lunch, and recommend this to others. It's a bit steeper going down, but well-worth the effort. The existing camps and log walks have been pretty torn up (by flooding') but the trails were dry and we had no problems getting around. Excellent swimming off the big flat rocks at the lake. Too many families hanging out at Upper Ashland on our way back, but Lower Ashland was deserted and is much prettier anyway. Not a soul at Beaver Plant either, so the solitude is there if you look for it. Very nice, easy hike to Lower Ashland, and a wonderful 9-mile round trip if you go all the way to Twin Falls Lake.

The trailhead was full of cars although we did not see many people on the trail until we got to the Upper and Lower Ashland Lakes. We had Beaver Plant Lake to ourselves and this one is as pretty and scenic as the others. There is a ton of mud on the trail. You start to get into it just this side of Beaver Plant and it gets progressively worse as you approach the Ashland Lakes. We walked all the way around Beaver Plant and also walked all the way around Upper Ashland. Board walks go most of the way around each lake and all the lakes have HoneyBuckets. We attempted to walk around lower Ashland Lake but turned around 3/4 of the way, after we got into too much mud and brush. This lake does not have a well maintained trail going all the way around it and we would not recommend wasting your time trying. My kid counted approximately 200 footbridges between Lower Ashland and the trailhead. We ran into a crew of the Student Conservation Association (SCA) working on the beginning of the Bald Mountain Trail. They were putting in, what else, another footbridge. Apparently this is their 3rd week working on this trail. The kids in the group were from all over the United States. The campsites at the lakes are nice. This is a moderate hike for children and would be exceptional if it were not for the mud and exposed roots, that make some spots slippery. Be careful of the mesh tacked to the boardwalks, this too can be slippery. Trailhead permits are not required since it is Department of Natural Resources land. Happy Hiking!

Trail condition good as far as Lower Ashland Lake, although it was muddy in spots. Trail was quite crowded, there were ~20 cars at the trailhead. We travelled up the Bald Mountain Trail about 3 miles. Again there were muddy spots and some deadfall. There is some snow, especially at the edge of the ridge and occasionally over the trail. Lost the trail at a few points due to snow, deadfall, and poor definition. However, it was relatively easy to find again. Bugs were relatively light, and did not seem to be terribly hungry. We could see Island Lake and Clear Lake (frozen) and Boardman Lake (open). We did not see other hikers on the Bald Mountain Trail.

This was another shake-down hike and campout for our potential 50-milers. We stopped at Verlot Ranger station to buy a trail-head permit, but it turns out that the trail is on DNR land, so no permit is required. We had full packs on and were planning on staying at the Upper Ashland Lake Camp. The trail has *A LOT* of mud- some deep enough to go over the top of boots. We happily trudged along using the Leave No Trace Method- right through the middle! Those without gaiters were hurtin'. The temperature was in the low 40's. The trail has a lot of boardwalk covered with metal mesh. The mesh can be slippery too, so don't be fooled. The flora is extremely beautiful. Very scenic. We made it to the upper lake in about 1-1/2 hours. Honey buckets have been delivered by helicopter, but plan on bringing your own TP. We set up camp, ate lunch, put on daypacks, and headed for Twin Falls. This section of trail is even muddier despite the obvious signs of maintenance crew efforts. Quite the obstacle course. Very wet and very slippery with exposed roots the full length of the trail. Trekking poles proved quite useful. We were glad we did not attempt this little side- hike with full packs. Our little side-hike turned into a 3 or 3-1/2 hour trip. We were back just in time to make dinner. The falls was beautiful! At the falls we purified water, and no matter what we had orangy tinged water. It didn't taste bad however. Lots of bugs! Be prepared with your 10 essentials and proper equipment. We saw lots of dayhikers on Sunday walking in without any equipment or water. We did about 10 miles in all. We had planned on eating our Sunday lunch at the parking lot before heading home. Too many bugs. We loaded up and ate enroute.