Waterloo State Recreation Area is the third-largest park in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, encompassing over of

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s and

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s. Located in northeast Jackson County and parts of

Washtenaw County Washtenaw County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the population was 372,258. The county seat is Ann Arbor. The county was authorized by legislation in 1822 and organized as a county in 1826. Washtenaw ...

, the park is the largest in the

Lower Peninsula of Michigan The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the ...

and features 4 campgrounds, 11 lakes, a nature center, and over of trails - some for horses, bicycles,

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

and

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

. Waterloo SRA includes the Black Spruce Bog Natural Area, a

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best ...

and borders the

Pinckney Recreation Area Pinckney State Recreation Area is a Michigan state recreation area in Dexter, Sylvan and Lyndon Townships, Washtenaw County and Putnam and Unadilla Townships, Livingston County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The park is and sits at an elevati ...

on the east and the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Audubon Sanctuary to the west. The land preserved by the park is not all contiguous and numerous private landholdings and roads run through the park area. The area is characterized by

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...

kettle lake A kettle (also known as a kettle lake, kettle hole, or pothole) is a depression/hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of dead ice left behind by retreating gla ...

s, swamps and

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

s left by retreating glaciers after the last ice age. The park was created by the federal government during the Great Depression and is long-term leased to the state.

History

The Waterloo area was first settled in the 1830s but the ground was poorly suited for farming and during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

large numbers of farms were abandoned or in financial trouble. The

Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Reco ...

studied the creation of a variety of kinds of parks in several states. The lands were transferred to the Resettlement Administration of the Department of Agriculture in 1935. In 1935-1936, 45 recreational demonstration projects were established including at Waterloo. These areas were sited in marginal areas near large population centers to provide outdoor recreation activities and temporary employment. Most of the sites had

CCC camp The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

workers and other "relief workers". Permanent organized family, industrial and youth camps, roads, trails, park facilities buildings and bathing facilities were constructed. Waterloo had three permanent camps: the Cedar Lake, Mill Lake and Cassidy Lake camps. Mill Lake served inner-city youth and Cassidy Lake was a year-round trade school before being converted to its current use as a prison in 1942. Camp Waterloo began as a CCC camp, then served to train military police and as a German POW camp during World War II. It later became a low security prison. Sylvan Pond was created when the WPA put in a dam and levees at Cassidy Lake raised its water level permanently. The clubhouse of former Sylvan Estates Country Club is the current park headquarters. The recreational demonstration projects were transferred from the Resettlement Administration to the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

in November, 1936. The Park Service ended hunting on all park lands it managed nationwide which created a local controversy in Waterloo. In 1943, the state of Michigan leased the park from the National Park Service under the conditions that it must remain a public park for recreational and conservation purposes. In particular, the lease for Waterloo Park requires marshes be maintained for the

sandhill crane The sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis'') is a species of large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird refers to habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills on t ...

s and that Michigan must provide funds to run the

Yankee Springs Recreation Area Yankee Springs State Recreation Area is a state-managed protected area located in Yankee Springs Township in Barry County, Michigan. The park is in area. It has 120 rustic, 200 modern and 25 equestrian camping sites, plus two cabins. There are ...

near Grand Rapids, the other recreational demonstration project in the state.

Facilities and activities

The park offers over 434 campsites that are available in two modern

campground A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for camping, overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight u ...

s, one equestrian and one rustic campground. Also available to visitors are thirteen rustic cabins. The park boasts a swimming beach, several picnic sites, 11 fishing lakes, and eight boat launches. Hunting for small game and deer is allowed in most of the park, except for established safety zones around campgrounds and park facilities. The park offers extensive trails that wind through the vast landscape and around the eleven lakes that exist within the park's confines - of interpretive nature trails, of hiking trails and numerous equestrian trails. The

Waterloo-Pinckney Trail The Waterloo-Pinckney Trail is a 38-mile-long hiking trail which runs through Waterloo State Recreation Area and Pinckney Recreation Area in southeastern Michigan, United States. Part of the trail also passes through Park Lyndon County Park. The ...

runs across the park and into the adjoining

The lakes host a variety of fish species which include

Largemouth Bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...

, Smallmouth Bass,

Bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and ...

, Sunfish,

Catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

Northern Pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus '' Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a ...

and others. Crooked Lake, Clear Lake, Little Portage Lake,

Mill Lake Mill Lake is an alpine lake in Blaine County, Idaho, Blaine County, Idaho, United States, located in the Smoky Mountains (Idaho), Smoky Mountains in Sawtooth National Recreation Area of Sawtooth National Forest. The lake is most easily accessed v ...

, Sugarloaf Lake, Doyle Lake, Merkle Lake, Mud Lake, and the Winnewana Impoundment are among the eleven bodies of water found in the park. Clear Lake, Doyle Lake, Little Portage Lake and Merkle Lake are accessible by foot only by crossing state land. Fishing piers are located on Big Portage and Crooked lakes. Sugarloaf Lake has state owned access limited to campers and a privately owned access site. Public boat launches are located on the following lakes: Big Portage, Cedar,

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

, Crooked, Mill, Mud, and Walsh. The Winnewana Impoundment also provides a boat landing. The launch site at Big Portage Lake meets ADAAG standards for universal accessibilit

Boats may be rented by visitors at Big Portage Lake from the park if needed.

Gerald E. Eddy Discovery Center

The Gerald E. Eddy Discovery Center features exhibits on the geology and natural habitats of Waterloo State Recreation Area, both in pre-settler times and today. Another display shows fluted spear points used by the Paleo-Indian hunters and other cultural history artifacts. There is an auditorium, interactive exhibits and computer games. The center hosts special events and programs for school groups.

DTE Energy Foundation Trail

In 2015, the Potowatomi Mountain Bike association began building a mountain bike trail through the recreation area with the assistance of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan DNR. The trail was named the DTE Energy Foundation Trail in response to the large donation provided by DTE towards its construction. 20 miles of trail have been built as of 2019, with a final segment still planned pending additional funding. Dte trail green lake

References

External links