I day-hiked Ashland Lakes today. The road is, as frequently commented, in terrible condition. Five miles of pot-holes bigger than your vehicle. But I made it to the trailhead in my Subaru Forester. While I was there, seven vehicles total came and went (three there when I arrived and three different ones there when I left). More than half were Subarus and none were low-slung sedans. But a medium-size SUV or sports wagon will make it.

There was no snow on the trail and I made it all the way to the end, which is the boardwalk over the outlet creek of Lower Ashland Lake. It was sopping wet the whole way and I got lightly drizzled on at times, but I didn't have any trouble.

One single-nighter passed me on his way out and one adult/child were headed in for camping as I headed out. Only the various wooden platforms at the multiple campgrounds will take a tent right now. All the ground sites were completely swamped.

Trail was in ok condition a few fallen trees to climb over but passable.
The gravel road coming in was very bad. 4 wheel drive may not be needed but high clearance is a must. It was 5 miles of large deep pot holes.
It was worth it though because the road conditions repelled the majority of people, there was only three other vehicles there and didn’t see any other hikers on the trail.

ROAD CONDITIONS: Parked on the road just before 4021 splits off due to snow/slush and started up 4020 towards Boardman. The snow is patchy for about a mile, at which point the snow gets about 3-4' deep. I didn't need snowshoes while following tire ruts from a Jeep I passed that had gotten stuck, but after that I needed them. These guys had to use a tow rope attached to a tree to unstick themselves, and on the way back down I passed another Jeep the drivers were attempting to dig out and use recovery boards. It's not just the snow, it's the potholes under it that'll get you. Neither had chains/cords on, so I couldn't say if they'd have helped. 4021 is similar, and I put my snowshoes back on at the 016 splitoff to the Ashland Lakes trail. This road immediately has 10' deep snow on it, and probably won't be fully melted out for a while.

BOARDMAN LAKE TRAIL: A lovely snowshoe trip around Evans, saw a couple of Mallards walking around the lake to my surprise. Trail was easy to follow until perhaps it switchbacked halfway in and I couldn't figure out where it went. I wasn't familiar with this trail so I turned around at this point.

ASHLAND LAKES TRAIL: Mostly easy to follow but the snowpack has occasional gullies for small creeks you need to negotiate. About a mile in, as you enter old-growth forest and the trail follows the NRCA/NF border I lost track for a few minutes. It stops following the path of least resistance and instead starts climbing and switchbacking up to Beaver Plant Lake. Keep right of the pink flag on a jagged stump and a sharp eye for markers. You should be able to see edges of the boardwalk in the potholes in the snow. Once the trail starts switchbacks it's easier to follow, but had a few 50' stretches where it was completely melted out as it becomes kind of a creek. Got to Beaver Plant Lake, had dinner, saw a pair of Common Mergansers on a thin strip of melted out lake.

SNOW QUALITY: at all times the snow was very wet, even in the morning. Blegh. The tire ruts were solid enough to walk on without snowshoes, but still pretty slippery.

The Forest Service road becomes impassable about 1.5miles from the trailhead due to deep snow. High clearance vehicle recommended due to large pot holes along the stretch of road that is passable. My boyfriend and I made it just fine in our 2008 Subaru Forester.

The official trail is mostly snow covered and difficult to follow after about the first mile. We were the first ones to use the trail since the last snowfall, so we relied on our GPS to ensure we remained on the correct trail. There are some visible trail markers on trees, but these were also sometimes difficult to follow. 

Turned around at Upper Ashland Lake after lunch due to the added 1.5miles hiked along the road. Beautiful views of the still frozen Beaver Platt Lake and Upper Ashland Lake.

We brought along our snowshoes, but opted to use out microspikes as the snow on the trail was quite compact. We may have opted to use them if the weather had been warmer.

Our GPS clocked us in at just under 8 miles and about 4.5 hours round trip.

Chose the one day of partly sunny weather (no rain) to hike mid-week. The road to the TH is the worst, pot holes that could swallow a small car, actually ponds of water. There was snow as well as the road continues. We had 4x4 pick up so were able to make it, but did stop short of the parking lot with the bathroom based on another trail report. Only one other car (subaru) whose tire tracks we followed hoping we would make it through the snow. The temp was 32 degrees and pretty much held steady throughout the hike. Lots of water ways to cross and climb, lots of boardwalks covered in snow and slippery in places. Snow was dropping from trees so a hooded jacket was needed to keep moisture off your neck. Saw one solo hiker on our way in with a chocolate lab named Bradley. Saw a second solo hiker on our way out (passed us) who had taken the route to Bald Mt but couldn't make it through. We made it to Upper Ashland Lake and Beaver Plant Lake on the way back. Due the time change and earlier darkness, we turned around before reaching Lower Ashland Lake. It was slow going with the slippery snow on the boardwalks and some rocky/water filled areas, more like steep creek beds. At one junction, we were on a snow-covered log that transitioned to another snow-covered log and I slipped and landed like a turtle on my backpack in the snow. My trekking pole jabbed into my hip but only bruised. Hazards of snow hiking! We tracked 6.3 miles with 823' EG. Probably an easier hike without snow due to the miles of boardwalk. The lakes are gorgeous but terrain is very wet this time of year so not really any place to stop and sit. There are camping sites at Upper Ashland Lake.