Ashland Lakes Trail

Follow an old roadbed a mile through a stand of young trees before entering an old-growth hemlock forest. At approximately 1.7 miles you will reach a junction, with the left fork leading to Beaver Plant Lake, a sensitive wetland of sphagnum bog and peat. The right fork continues past the junction with the abandoned and unmaintained Bald Mountain Trail to Upper Ashland Lake and Lower Ashland Lake; larger and deeper lakes are found at the headwaters of Wilson Creek. Campsites without toilets are near these lakes. Past lower Ashland Lakes the trail is washed out and becomes difficult and hazardous with cliffs below. The boardwalks can be slippery when wet. Please stay on the boardwalk to protect the sensitive shoreline vegetation and camp only in designated sites.

The Ashland Lakes are within the Morning Star Natural Resources Conservation Area and managed by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources to protect high-quality wetlands, fragile subalpine meadows, sensitive plant communities and habitat for threatened, endangered and rare wildlife species. 

For more information about the conservation area, see the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. 

WTA hiking guide - trip reports

At a Glance