We were looking for a quick overnight with the kids and this trail delivered. First and foremost - the road is terrible. Bombed out with huge potholes for most of the last four miles you drive to get to the trailhead. I have no doubt someone has made it in a car, but I would not recommend. We arrived at 2:30pm and were the third vehicle in the lot. After 1.5 miles on the trail, we took the fork to the left to see if the camping spots at Beaver Plant Lake were open. We lucked out. There was no one to be seen and we had our pick of the sites. Set camp for the night, and enjoyed a lovely evening under the stars. Headed back to the trailhead around 8am the next morning. We did not see another person the entire time. Great camps sites, fire rings, No trash, and a short 3.5 mile round trip hike make this one a must do again later this season. 

The road to the trailhead is in poor condition with lots of potholes.  Do not attempt this in a sedan, your unlikely to succeed without causing damage.  High clearance required.

Trail is mostly in good condition.  A mild hike through some old forests with just a few muddy patches.  This hike is fine for kids and is not too demanding.  About 2 miles in you'll come to Beaver Lake.  This lake is pretty lackluster as its muddy and full of trees.  You may be tempted to stop for lunch, but continue on to Upper Ashland which is only about 1/3 of a mile further.  The lake looks much nicer and has some nice areas to picnic etc.

If you go down to explore Lower Ashland, this is probably the nicest of the lakes.  The water is clear and I have gone swimming here several times.  The only thing is part of the boardwalk that goes around Lower Ashland is submerged underwater or washed away.  There was some flooding this year and unfortunately you can only go part way around the lake.  Its not a deal breaker though, and its a nice day hike.

Nice hike today for the whole family.  Our 10 and 7 year olds did great as did our dog.   We made it to the 1st of the two Ashland Lakes and called it a day.   The drive in was a bit rough but manageable with our SUV.   Would not recommend for lower clearance vehicles.  Also, our dog got car sick from all the bumping around.   It was nice though to find the trail head with only four other cars and saw very few groups on the trail.  We were able to use masks and step aside as needed and most did the same.  Was glad to go the extra distance to avoid the insanity of Lake 22 with easily 100 cars on the side of the road in addition to the full parking lot.  One of my go-to hikes earlier in life but will not be heading there anytime soon. 

I wasn't able to make it to the trail-head in my Camry.  I made it about 0.5 miles down the 5 mile long logging road and decided that after a couple of times bottoming out my vehicle, I should probably turn back and pick another trail.  I ended up stumbling upon the Lake 22 hike which was beautiful!!

I took a photo of some of the potholes you'll experience on the road that leads to this trail-head - I ran across about 6 sets of these in the first 0.5 miles before I decided to turn around.  I do think this would be passable in a vehicle that has better clearance.  I should have read more of the posts before selecting this trail given my vehicle limitations.

The road in (4020) was almost a challenge in our Subaru Outback, so be aware.  4021 was a little better and the spur road was in the best shape overall.  We are just coming off the COVID quarantine, so maybe this has been rectified, but the pit toilet was up to ground level and terribly foul.  

Overall, a good hike!  Our 2.5 year old willingly did most of it (but he's a tank).  The boardwalk to the third lake is startlingly slick at the beginning, so be aware.  There were a couple of trees down over the trail, but they were easy to climb/step over.  The lakes were definitely worth the hike and a picnic lunch was a fun way to spend the day.