Rock Star, Beaches, and a Hidden Cemetery: Waterloo, Michigan

The Waterloo Recreation Area contains 20,000 acres, making it the largest state park in the Lower Peninsula and has eleven inland lakes. It encompasses Clear Lake, Sugarloaf Lake, the Waterloo Hunt Club, Waterloo Discovery Trail, Waterloo Museum, Waterloo Hunt Club, Portage Lake, Discovery Center, and the Michigan Out-Doors Youth Camp. And that’s just a few of the things.

The area was settled in the 1830s and became a farming community. But as the years wore down into the 1920s and the Great Depression hit, it was evident that the farms could not survive; many of them went belly-up and were abandoned.

When we were kids, we used to split our swimming time between Portage Lake and Clear Lake. Portage had a great beach with lots of girls, while Clear Lake never seemed to have big crowds – but it did have a cool wooden dock we could swim out to and dive off.

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Cassidy Lake has a prison that has been used since 1942; Camp Waterloo was a CCC Camp, then used as a POW Camp during World War 2.

A couple of points of interest is the little town of Waterloo, built around a mill and has one, maybe two places of business left. Some photos of old Waterloo are in the gallery below. There is also a hidden old cemetery that you probably won’t be able to find, since it’s been covered with grass and weeds. It sits in on a secluded, wooded corner down a dirt road next to a dirt pit.

My old friend Cub Koda is buried out that way. Cub was leader, lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter for the Michigan band Brownsville Station, whose biggest hit was “Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room” back in 1973. He has one of the coolest grave markers you’ll ever see. He passed away in 2000.

The village of Waterloo is a quaint little hamlet / junction that makes for a cool visit or drive-thru.