Road was absolutely terrible. High-clearance and skillful driving is required to avoid bottoming out. Otherwise the hike up is fairly easy. Fair hike even with tents and chairs. 

Summary: This trip report covers both Ashland Lakes and Twin Falls Lake beyond. If you want to escape the crowds of Mtn Loop and have a little adventure, check out this trail!

I wanted to do an "easy" hike because I hurt my back earlier this week, but it turned it to more of a scramble/bushwhack than I'd anticipated!

First of all, note that the road is awful—easily the worst I've seen in Washington. Definitely need a Jeep or similar rig to navigate. And it's slow going!

Also, make sure to bring your Discover Pass. I didn't realize this trailhead was owned by DNR! Sort of confusing to remember a separate pass but whatever.

The trail to Ashland Lakes and Beaver Plant Lake is in good condition. Lots of nice boardwalks prevent your feet from getting wet. The lakes are quaint and quiet, with very dark mysterious water.

We had read a comment on another trip report mentioning that an unmaintained trail continues beyond Lower Ashland Lake for another mile or so to another lake with some really neat waterfalls. Thought this sounded like a doable way to make the trail a little more interesting. If you are looking for more of an adventure than just the main lakes, this is a great option that offers LOTS of solitude compared to the rest of mountain loop highway! We only saw one other party on the main trail to Ashland Lakes, and once we got beyond the end of that trail we saw no one else all day.

The boardwalk from Lower Ashland Lake continues on and begins to descend a bit into another draw. You'll cross a creek over a large (and slippery) log after a couple minutes, and at this point the boardwalk planks start to peter out. If you plan to try and reach the falls, please make sure to have a topographic map of the area so you can orient yourself. Though the trail is fairly obvious in most spots, it can be quite overgrown and is not maintained. There are several blowdowns that cause the trail to divert which is where you may get confused. There is quite a bit of flagging to mark such spots which is very helpful. It can be steep in some spots, and very rocky, so be prepared for rugged conditions. According to CalTopo Twin Falls Lake is another mile from Lower Ashland, and according to Craig Romano's Day Hike NOCA it's an additional 1.5 miles, though it feels longer than either of these because of the difficult nature of the trail. It's slow going. Though eventually you'll reach a signed creek near a cliff edge, marker "Twin Falls Lake campground". Turn right here to reach a nice rock slab to sit on for lunch and enjoy the view of the falls. The Lake and falls felt a bit creepy to me, having a bit of that abandoned ghost town vibe. It's a really neat spot though and worth exploring! I'm not sure why this section of trail is no longer maintained. 

I'm going to really try to give a helpful report for once. Here goes - 

 Of the Boardman/Ashland/Bear Lakes trio, I had never been to Ashland yet. The reports were uninspiring - a slippery boardwalk through the forest to a couple swampy looking lakes. It didn't seem interesting enough to justify the long drive up a terrible road, but at the same time, I was embarrassed to say I'd never been there. I figured with a lot of folks dissuaded by the reports of the dreaded road, I might find some solitude up there on a random Monday.

 First, the road  -  it is indeed bad. Go slow as you pull off the highway, because the first hundred feet will give you a taste of the next five miles. If you're ok with that, then you should be fine. Just don't expect to take your street car up here. I've been up it multiple times in different vehicles and --- GAAAAAHHH!  I can't do it!  I'm not even talking about the trail yet and this is boring!  Sorry, let's start over - 

 The road was bad, the trail was good, the lakes were boring.  The end. 

  (8/9/2021)

We had to turn around after the first quarter mile due to extremely rutted out roads which scraped the bottom of our vehicle on more than one occasion. 

Did not make it up to the lakes because the ROAD IS IMPOSSIBLE!!  For god's sake, can the state not maintain this popular road?  It would have taken us an hour to go 5 miles on this piece of crap in a Subaru Forrester. Hikers Beware.