Squaw Lakes – Now Acorn Lady Lake

Squaw Lake (Now called Acorn Lady Lake) is the perfect high mountain lake with an old school fishing, swimming, camping, & hiking vibe. The 3 mile trail around it is wide and flat.

Driving

– It is an hour and 20 minute drive from Ashland and that last 20 minutes is on a bumpy gravel road.
Head north on the 5… just get there. Then get off on the Phoenix exit (before Medford) and turn left. Then, turn right on Highway 99 for less than a mile and turn left on South Stage Road towards Jacksonville.  There’s a quick jog right and then left on Griffin Creek Road and then South Stage turns into California Road(?) as you drive through Jacksonville.
As you emerge from Jacksonville you are on Route 238 heading to Applegate. It’s rural. It’s nice. Keep an eye out for Upper Applegate Road in about 10 minutes. You’ll turn left at a city called Ruch, but you aren’t going to see a city, you’ll just see a yellow church/school building. So turn left and you have 20 minutes on Upper Applegate Road driving along the Applegate River. Some roads split off, but head toward Applegate Lake and Applegate Dam.
Turn left onto the road on top of the dam. French Gulch Road. Stay on this paved road and make the hairpin turn to your right just after you leave Applegate Lake. Maybe 10 minutes of twists and turns at the road turns into gravel. 20 minutes on this and there are many bumpy washboard sections. As you arrive the lake is on your left and parking is up on your right.

Parking

– There is a large grassy field for parking. Don’t forget to grab an envelope and pay your $5 PARKING FEE. On a crowded weekend you may have to park along the roadside.

The Adventure

– There’s a big, wide trail all around the big lake, and a smaller trail that heads out to the little lake. The campsite host may buzz around on their ATV Quad machine, but otherwise there is no motorized traffic. There is access to the lake at many spots and campsites dot the route almost all the way around the lake. Not much more to this trail/road. Did I mention how flat it is? It’s super flat.
There’s fishing and swimming and kayaking and paddleboarding…it is almost perfect. There are pit toilets and water spigots during the season.
You can reserve campsites online. CLICK HERE for more info. Whether you are camping or just hanging out for the day you need to carry your gear down to the various sites around the lake. And don’t poop in the woods. It’s becoming a problem. That’s mostly for the overnight campers but our forefathers invented indoor pooping for a good reason, so when you can, take advantage of that.