Laurel Creek Conservation Area — Attraction in Waterloo

I'll try to cover things that other people are missing in my review:

WASHROOMS: There are proper washrooms (with plumbing) at Laurel Creek. One along the green trail on the east end of the park, one at the critter shelter near the boat launch area, and one in the RV campground area (with showers). You don't have to use outhouses! :)

SWIMMING: The poor water quality is now a concern for swimming! There are signs posted about Swimmer's Itch, which leaves you with reddish bumps and a rash on your body. Trust me I know. (Google it.) There are also leeches in the water, and the geese have largely taken over the beach area, doing what geese do.

BOATS: There is a dock to launch boats from and an island you can swim or paddle out to. I advise not paddling in June because of the amount of seaweed. (It looks like an orange carpet on the water.) If you want to go boating, avoid the area of the lake on the far side (west side) of the island. It is a minefield of stumps in shallow water. I learned that the hard way!

HIKING: There are four main trails, each assigned a color (red, green, blue, yellow), and a number of side trails that aren't as well maintained.

Red: The red trail goes through forest on the west end of the conservation area and has a lookout area with benches overlooking the lake.

Green: The green trail is on the east end of the park and runs through a mixture of forest and marshland. This trail can be extremely wet (in the areas of the trail without gravel) so you'll want to avoid certain parts of it depending on the season.

Blue: The blue trail is long. It pretty much goes around the entire park. It's mostly forest with a few hills here and there. There are benches you can sit on as well. The parts of the trail that go through the forest are hard packed mud, not gravel, and they get very slippery when wet.

Yellow: The yellow trail is short but sweet. It winds its way around an area of forest between a river and where several natural ponds are before re-joining the blue trail.

The mosquitoes and deer flies are an issue during the summer months. The best time for hiking is spring/fall because the bugs are gone! :)

DOGS: Dog owners don't obey the leash laws of the park and have their dogs in the beach area.

GARBAGE: There is a lot of garbage left on the ground in the beach area including used toilet paper and diapers. Vandals commonly break tree branches for their BBQs.

In 2021, the GRCA allowed a hate group to occupy every space in the campground for the entire summer free of charge. As the group grew in size, so did their hostility towards other park members. The group began blockading roads and trails in and around the campground area, and began harassing legitimate park members. I didn't feel safe in the park that summer.

FEEL: Now that the park has been entirely swallowed up by the city, you hear sirens from emergency vehicles, engine noise from cars, planes, etc. It's questionable whether anyone can consider this to be a "quiet natural area" any longer. It seems that battle has been lost.

SUMMARY: Given that free hiking trails exist all over town, and given the rapidly deteriorating water quality, Laurel Creek is hard to justify...

The beach for swimming is terrible, and I do not recommend it to anyone. The trails are lovely for walking, hence 2 stars instead of 1, but I mainly visit for the beach. I've been going consistently for 3 years with my toddler, and this year is the most disgusting I have seen the swimming area. It is covered in goose poop, and the staff came and cleaned a little bit around one picnic table and then left. Those of us visiting the beach were using toy shovels to clean an area in the sand just so we could sit on towels or on a chair, there was that much poop. You could not walk without nearly stepping in it. There are large clumps of algae at the shore (within 3 feet) that the kids need to avoid, as that is where the leeches hang out. Worst of all is that both my toddler and I came home with itchy bumps all over our legs after visiting. We spent time in the water, and that's where the bumps developed. He was up all last night itching his legs and whining, so parents, please use caution when visiting. It was bad last year, too, but not to this extent, and I was hoping they had improved things, but it seems they are...

The park itself is extremely quiet and peaceful, yet super close to amenities which is nice. The showers/washrooms were fairly clean; downfall ... there was only hot water for one day that we were there, day two the water was freezing cold. The staff at the main entrance were friendly and helpful upon arrival. The Park Warden's were rude and unprofessional. There is a way to address concerns/complaints and the two ladies that marched onto our campsite and barked orders at us came across as extremely unpleasant and quite frankly rude. They lingered around the site and did not let us enjoy our family vacation as we had planned to. They were sarcastic and on a major power trip (for lack of a better word). In the customer service industry you need to learn to address situations in a professional and calm manner. We will not be attending this conservation area again (nor should you if travelling with a group of friends) which is unfortunate as overall the park is...