Green Lake Rustic Campground

We had a great time at the Waterloo Recreation Area - Green lake campground. There are multiple campgrounds within the recreation area. We chose Green lake because it is smaller. We stayed in site 6 which overlooked the lake. Not really a swimming lake, but the views were wonderful. We did notice some road noise from M-52. Not a deal breaker though. The campground has access to many hiking/horse trails, which was great. It looked like a bike trail also ran close to the campground. No electric or water hookups. Campground was full, but very quiet. Pay attention to directions when making reservations. Our GPS took up down some rough dirt roads.

After visiting some other rustic campgrounds in the area I realized this one was actually pretty nice. Access is easy off of M-52 - just 3/4 mile on a well-graded gravel road. The campground is a big loop with sites on both the outer and inner sides. A few sites back up to the lake, and the majority are set up in the open (under trees), but quite roomy. Only sites 8, 20, and 25 are set back a bit. Site 8 is a very short walk-in site, site 20 (my site) wasn't that level but could accommodate my class C okay, and site 25 which was previously reviewed is definitely best as a tent site as it is on a slope (possibly a problem during heavy rain) and sandy. The DNR staff was out early Monday morning cleaning and pickup up. Green lake is just one of dozens of lakes in the area that offers great paddling opportunities. My main reason for visiting was the check out the DTE Mountain Bike Trails. Upon arriving I was surprised to find a newly completed portion of the B2B trail (Chelsea to Stockbridge) right at the highway entrance to the campground. It extends north 1.5 miles and has a crossing (unprotected) over the highway to the entrance to the DTE Green Lake Loop (which connects to the other loops). The parking lot isn't very big and packed with cars and trucks so an RV would not fit well there. Being able to camp nearby was exactly what I was looking for. T-Mobile has only a spec of a signal though it better in open areas. AT&T was better though I used a booster most of the time with my Nighthawk. It's worth mentioning the Waterloo-Pinckney Hiking Trail goes through the area as well.