LAUREL CREEK CONSERVATION AREA – OCTOBER 2013
SITE #36
We stayed at Laurel Creek Conservation Area Thanksgiving weekend on site #36. It was our first visit here. Laurel Creek CA is located in Waterloo, ON and is run by the Grand River Conservation Area. We’ve stayed at every park in the system now and have had no complaints. This park was very clean, well patrolled and the comfort stations in great shape. Our site looked a little different than it did in pictures on the reservation website. This is common though and we’re used to it. We arrived Friday night, after dark and were anxious to just get parked and set up. There were no lights near our site which made for a tough time backing in. It was impossible to see properly and so we had to level a bit come morning. One good thing, we realized that our lanterns just weren’t good enough and a good flashlight was in order.
We were going to bring our canoe, but opted out at the last moment. Too bad, the weather was beautiful! Dave fished for awhile on Saturday and I hiked the blue, green and red trails throughout the park. The hiking trails at Laurel Creek were really nicely groomed and well marked. It was a great way to enjoy the wonderful fall weather!
Scenes from the hiking trail:
Laurel Creek Reservoir was created in 1966 when a dam was created on Laurel Creek. The purpose was for flood control in Waterloo. Compared to other dams in the Grand River watershed, it’s very small. In fact, it’s the smallest of all. Dave fished at the dam, but didn’t catch anything. We found out later that there really isn’t anything to catch in this body of water. The scenery is really beautiful though and it would make a nice paddle.
Here are some photos of the Laurel Creek Reservoir and Laurel Creek River:
It was a very relaxing weekend at Laurel Creek. We enjoyed a weekend of campfires, reading books, walks and hikes. We met up with another camping couple that we had got to know from the RVing in Canada group on the internet, but never met in person. It was so nice, they spent Saturday night with us at our campfire. Sunday night another couple we’d met from Fort Erie, Ontario spent the evening visiting with us around our campfire. It was so nice to meet and talk to other people that enjoy doing what we do!
Here are some photos of the campground at Laurel Creek:
I decided to decorate the trailer for the fall and Halloween and to celebrate our last trip out. Here are a couple festive photos:
It was a great weekend away. We met fellow RVing in Canada Facebook members who were camped at the park and wonderful weather!
Laurel Creek Conservation Area offers 76 serviced sites (water & 30 amp) and 50 unserviced. Most of the sites seemed to be partly shaded, however their website states that some are open. Seasonal sites are offered at Laurel Creek. The campground roads are in good shape and there is a dump station as well. As mentioned earlier, the comfort station I used, pictured above was very clean. The park was patrolled regularly and despite being a busy long weekend, the park was very quiet.
There is a small beach and non motorized boats are allowed on the reservoir. The website states that there are carp in the reservoir, but fishing is not a popular activity. After Dave’s fishing attempt – we believe it! There are 4.5km of hiking trails and they are in great shape. Well maintained and well marked. Park fees range from $39 to $43 for full service.
This is a really nice, clean quiet campground. If you have a couple days, you should check it out. Here are some links to relevant websites:
For more photos, my Picasa web album of Laurel Creek:
https://plus.google.com/photos/116741237613027767021/albums/5936830908606143809?banner=pwa
Laurel Creek Conservation Area website:
http://www.grandriver.ca/index/document.cfm?Sec=27&Sub1=127&sub2=0
Laurel Creek Conservation Area Fees:
Sue and Daves RV Adventures 