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Activities

Camper submitted image from Green Lake Rustic Campground — Waterloo Recreation Area - 4

Camping

Water

Established Camping

Green Lake Rustic Campground — Waterloo Recreation Area

12 Reviews

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About

State Park

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Location

Green Lake Rustic Campground — Waterloo Recreation Area is located in Michigan

Directions

Take I-94 to exit 159, M-52 Chelsea. Go north on M-52 for 5 miles. Entrance will be on the left.

Address

16345 Mcclure Rd
Chelsea, MI 48118

Coordinates

42.36420484 N
84.07028336 W

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Access

Drive-In
Park next to your site
Walk-In
Park in a lot, walk to your site.
Boat-In
Sites accessible by watercraft.

Stay Connected

WiFi
Unknown
Verizon
Good
AT&T
Unknown
T-Mobile
Unknown

Site Types

Tent Sites
RV Sites
Standard (Tent/RV)
Yurts

Features

For Campers

ADA Access
Trash
Picnic Table
Phone Service
Reservable
Drinking Water
Toilets
Alcohol
Pets
Fires

For Vehicles

Pull-Through Sites
Big Rig Friendly

For information regarding reservations, contact this campground directly.

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Contact

General Info

Rebekah J.

Traveler

Reviewed Aug. 13, 2023

Great Site

We stayed the weekend at greenlake rustic, the access road into the Campground is a nice 1/2 ish mile in. We were on sites 5 and 3. Both sites seemed larger then most suburban house lots. Site 5 had a decent view of the lake, Site 3 had odd fire pit placement under 2 trees. Even though the sites were large they didn't have much for privacy in between sites.

Overall, it was a quiet stay. The freeway is on the other side of the lake, but it didn't bother us. At night it was like white noise.

The Campground has a small boat dock, no swimming area. We checked out half moon lake, wasn't really impressed, was told sugarloaf but its only for sugarloaf campers. We were then directed to Portage lake beach, which was a larger beach but it was really silty.

Green lakes vault toilets had nice motion sensor lights in them. The hand pump took a long time to get going.

We went on both east and west sides of the waterloo-pickney trail, located off the Campground access road. I believe it was the west trail after Cassidy road we experienced some steep inclines.

We also were able to see some awesome stars at night

FYI sugarloaf and portage both have firewood for sale $6.

SiteGL5, GL3

Month of VisitSeptember

(4) View All

Rob

Scout

Reviewed May. 22, 2023

Great rustic campground

I would recommend getting a reservation before showing up. They have laminated signs posted on the campsites to let you know which ones are taken. When I showed up I found site 13 open for only one night. In the morning I was told by the DNR that most weekends are booked solid, but half the sites are empty and people don't cancel the reservation; so they can't legally rent them out. Many sites are large enough to pull a camper thru. No hookups but that wasn't an issue for me.

Site13

Month of VisitJune

Derek B.

Traveler

Reviewed Nov. 1, 2021

Beautiful rustic campsites

Spacious campgrounds with plenty of trees, with water and restrooms nearby. A great weekend getaway!

SiteGL11

Month of VisitNovember

Brianna H.

Scout

Reviewed Sep. 11, 2021

Site 6 - Must Stay

All of the sites on the water side are huge! Plenty of room to set up however you want. A good mix of RVs and tents. However, I haven’t heard any generators from the RVs. Very quiet place except for a few laughs heard from other campsites. Site 6 has a beautiful view of the water and perfect hammock if trees.

SiteGL6

Month of VisitOctober

James P.

Guide

Reviewed Jul. 23, 2021

Rustic camping, a whole lot to do!

Green Lake is a part of the Waterloo State Recreation Area, a 20,000 acre piece of state land with so much to do! Hiking, swimming, boating, equestrian, a nature center, and that's just scratching the surface!

Green Lake is the rustic campground on the east end of the area. No electricity, 3 privies, a water pump, and a boat launch. No swimming area. Visit the Michigan DNR website for the other campgrounds located in the state park with their specific amenities.

Site16

Month of VisitAugust

Melissa B.

Guide

Reviewed Jun. 20, 2021

Peaceful campground experience

I loved this quiet little campground! I stayed at #6 and had a beautiful view of the lake. There is muddy lake access on that site and I paddled from there in my kayak. There is an official boat launch nearby. Bathrooms were clean and had plenty of toilet paper. Water pump takes a while, but it works! There is a hiking trailhead, Border to Border bike trail, and DTE mountain bike trail nearby. You can bike a few miles in to Chelsea, a very cute town with shops, restaurants, brewery and distillery. This was a nice quick getaway from Ann Arbor. The only downside is you can hear highway traffic from the campground, but otherwise it was a pleasant experience.

Site6

Month of VisitJuly

Jordan B.

Traveler

Reviewed Sep. 3, 2020

Simple rustic camping with great access

Greenlake rustic campground offers 3 pit toilets a hand pump and small garbage site. Sites are generally first come first serve though reservations are now taken since the Covid-19. Most sited are shaded and all have a fire ring. Not always 100% level ground but nothing un-tentable. 2 sites probably won't take a trailer but most are fine for small rigs. A major roadway passes along the other side of the lake making lake front sites noise until about 12am and rear sites sit near a wetland aka the boarder of the mosquito kingdom; neither of these problems are terrible if you plan accordingly.

Please note this is a quiter campground filled with mtn bikers, day hikers, tent campers, anglers, small craft boaters, and thru hikers.

Alaine S.

Traveler

Reviewed Aug. 6, 2020

Quiet with great views

While you technically don’t need a reservation, we made our reservations through the DNR website about a month in advance. The campsite was listed as ‘full’ when we arrived, so I was glad we took the extra step.

The sites are generously sized, with room to stretch out. There isn’t much privacy between sites, with a few exceptions, but this campsite is so quiet and well-behaved that it didn’t end up mattering much. The lack of cover between sites gave everyone a nice view of the lake from our tents on our inland sites, which was beautiful.

We had access to 3 different vault toilets, which was a generous amount for the capacity of the campground. We arrived on a Thursday & they were about as clean & tidy as you can ask a vault to be. Generously sized buildings that seemed regularly checked on. Hand sanitizer pumps were installed and full, and toilet paper was always available.

I took one star off for the dense population of ground bees that were in front of all 3 vault toilets, and along the main path to the yurt and water pump. Bees are part of the natural outdoors, but there were dozens of active entrances dug into walking & driving paths. It seemed like a bad combo for both the bees and the campers, cars were often driving over their nests and leaving them agitated. They don’t travel far from their holes though, so we kept a respectful distance and danced around them when they seemed upset.

Overall, we’d absolutely visit this site again. It was a beautiful place to spend our vacation & we enjoyed ourselves a lot over our 4 day stay.

Jillian E.

Guide

Reviewed Jun. 14, 2020

Rustic, relaxing, & quiet

Great little campground. I ended up here after not being able to find a site at many other locations and I’m glad I did! I’ve gone back many times and it’s always beautiful and quiet. Also there are many different sites to choose from, on the water views and a yurt for a more romantic cozy experience.

(5) View All

Madison D.

Guide

Reviewed May. 11, 2020

Busy

As someone who used to live near the area, I frequently tried to get a site in this campground for an easy camping experience without too much hassle. I've only stayed here once, as every other time I've attempted it's been full. I have frequented the areas trails, and they're great.

Sites here are not reservable. I would recommend getting to camp early if it's a busy time of year. It seems that this campground has increased in popularity as the nearby DTE bike trail gains exposure. Nonetheless, this is a great campground close to a few great small towns that offers peacefulness while also being close enough to a great pizza joint to grab a beer or two. If you plan to visit and you have a mountain bike, you must check on the DTE trail conditions and take the trail for a spin.

There is a pit toilet and water available. There is a yurt on the water available for reservations. Many people fish in Green Lake.

Jacki F.

Traveler

Reviewed Jun. 9, 2019

Rustic campground near civilization

This campground is part of the Waterloo State Recreation area, about 6 miles north of Chelsea MI. Sites are decent-sized, not much privacy between some sites. Only a couple of sites overlook the lake. Picnic table, fire ring, vault toilet and hand pump water. Quiet little campground.