The park is mainly water on a lake called Kabetogama. The park has about 15 trails and most of the trails will look out onto the lake. Many people are boaters on the lake in the park and will fish and camp. The campsites for boaters are next to the lake. I have chosen a hotel with the park that was an old logging hotel for prostitution, I am told. While sitting writing this I noticed movement outside of the van and had a welcome site of a deer running from the forest through the parking area. Sure was nice to see some wildlife. The Ash River Visitor Center has a boat ramp for boats on a trail, and then a paddle access area. There is parking by each of the lake access points and an overflow lot at the top of the hill by the visitor center. The visitor center offers restrooms and a fresh water. On the left side near the rest rooms there is a trail that will take you down to the water for viewing of the lake. The trail also ends at a dock but the dock was not finished or put back together after the flooding this spring. A picnic table with fire ring also is at the bottom of the trail giving you a place to enjoy the water. I took advantage of this area for photos of the sunset on my first night. The visitor center also has a few chairs out back that allow you to look over the water but the sunset was not able to be viewed from these chairs, bummer. I was told in the AM that the best spot for watching the sunset is the Kabetogama Lake Overlook, who know not me.
Beaver Pond Overlook Trail – There is a pull off for this trail on the road to the Ash River Visitor Center. The trail is crushed stone and big boulders to walk across. When you are going up the boulders there is a handrail helping ensure you don’t take a tumble down. At the top of the hike is an overlook with a few seats that allow you a good look at the beaver pond and rest if needed. The total hike one way is a few hundred yards but the way out is up and you get maybe 50 feet in elevation gain. It is a nice view but I did not see signs of beaver with the trees eaten or downed by a beaver. The trailhead is on the right side of the parking area as the left side of the parking area is the trail head for the Kab-Ash Trail.
Kabetogama Lake Overlook Trail – This trail has a few trail heads and one is at the overflow parking area at the visitor center it being 0.1 miles to the overlook. The second is from a parking lot on the road to the Ash River Visitor Center. I took the trail from the parking lot and either side of the parking area has a trail head. The one on the right has stairs at the start but meets up with the other part of the trail after only a few yards. The walk from the parking area is 0.2 miles and it has a slight upgrade but after the intersection of the two trails the trail goes from crushed stone to dirt. When you arrive at the overlook you are then upon a bench and can look through the trees to the lake. If you are inclined to do so you can also take the Blind Ash Bay Trail as its trail head is at the overlook. The Blind Ash Bay Trail is 1 mile and there is elevation change on the way but nothing too dramatic. After 1 mile you will come to a loop and at the middle of the loop is another overlook. The overlook on this is of Blind Ash Bay, hence the name of the trail.
Kettle Falls Hotel – The hotel is only accessible by water but if you don’t have your own boat you can be driven to/from the hotel via the shuttle which the hotel offers. The shuttle service picks up and drops off at the Ash River visitor center, where you can leave your vehicle parked overnight for free. My skipper of the boat to the hotel knew the way and was like a bat out of hell on the water but I did feel very safe while in the boat. Once at the hotel’s island, the hotel staff will take you to the hotel via golf cart, or in my case pickup as the flooding waters had not gone down enough. The hotel was built in the early 1900’s and it had a poor foundation. The hotel is referred to at the “Tilton Hilton” due to the floor of the bar being less than flat some would even call it rounded. If you stand in one area you are feet below other areas of the bar. When the park service took over the hotel in the 1980’s they fixed the foundation but wanted to keep the charm. During the foundation repair they numbered each one of the wood planks in the floor allowing them to be placed back exactly as they were before the foundation repair. The pool table is level but one side is a few feet above the other side. The rooms of the hotel are nice and some feature two twin beds and others a full size bed. The second floor of the hotel is where the rooms are and the 3 shared bathrooms of the hotel. The bar has its own bathrooms for patrons. In addition to the rooms the hotel offers cabins and these are down by the lake featuring your own bathroom and a dock. The docks are under water at the moment due to the high water of the lake but you can still rent a cabin. The hotel offers portage service as the two lakes that the hotel is on are separated by a dam so no going over the dam in your boat. The bugs were out in full force because of the water levels so bug spray is needed all hours of the day and night.
