Laurel Creek Conservation Area

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 letting it go.

Perfect for camping, good for day trips as it’s not so over crowded. Easy hikes and nice water front areas.

The conservation area is great, the beach is small. But, it is a great place to spend a day with friends and family.

We loved our campsite and the area. The beach was shallow but b aware of leeches and goose poop! The camp has put in effort to clear the poop in the sand

I was here today, but I've been here previously too - including a year ago, a few times. The park is not bad for walking a few trails, enjoying nature. If you are in Waterloo - no need to drive to a far away lake or park area.
maps currently does not show the trail map - hmmm, I believe they did a year ago. But you can find the detailed PDF map online.
Now for the bad stuff. The lake shore near the designated swimming area is covered with (dog?) excrement. I am talking about the beach area not far from a parking lot. You really have to watch your step - they are all over the place. I am talking about the wide grassy area where many tables and benches are, not the sand area right next to water. I do not remember seeing this last year.
Multiple restrooms are available around the park, this is good.
Photo 2 - picnic area near lakeshore, "Area 2"
Photo 1 - eastern part of Green trail.

Great beach for kids and families.we haven't explored the rest of the property.membership is worth it imo.

We love Laurel Creek my girls can play for hours and hours, we love the trail walks it's always nice and clean the garbage is never over full

The beaches are clean the staff are friendly all and all an amazing conservation.

Nice staff.make sure to call and ask about where the power and water hookups are for your site.you may need extra cord/hose

What a great family spot. Kayaking, camping, swimming and saw these turkeys on the camp site beside us

Bathrooms and showers are clean. We stayed in campground 2 and it was peaceful and quiet.
Staff came around often and were super helpful. Bathrooms and showers were cleaned often.
We rented canoes and took them around the island and it was a lovely afternoon.
The campsite provides a firepit and picnic tables. You can also purchase wood and ice at the front gate.
The garbage dumping station was well organized and kept clean.
Just be weary of skunks and racoons as well as leaches in the lake.
We will definitely be returning back to Laurel Creek.

I would not recommend swimming because the water is kind of icky but the other things they offer are amazing and it is a great way to get outside.

Considering the admission is paid, I expected them to clean the beach area from geese poo. But in reality it’s extremely dirty

Very nice park with a pretty lake.wouldn't expect it to be in the middle of the city. The one downside when I was staying here was, there was a camp or something going on and they would wake us up every morning with their screaming

My first time camping their spent 5 days their and I loved the staff was the best.very friendly.helpful wonderfully place to camp gonging back on the Aug 1 for another 5 days can't wait so every who loves camping try camping their

The beach isn't very large but was not crowded at all when we were there. The water was a bit murky and the beach was a bit muddy but that may have been due to lack of rain before we went (low water level). The time we went before it was not like that at all, it was much clearer. There was quite a bit of marshy area when we went this time. The park itself is well maintained and there are nice trails with wildlife to watch as you hike.

Great place for swimming, trails, camping, kayaking and hanging out! The beauty of it is its local

I love this place so peaceful. If you get lucky sometimes you can see wildlife. The staff are friendly and helpful.

Laurel Creek is a large conversation area with water, boating, trails and more. The trails are wide but mostly grass, so can get muddy and wet. The trails could use better signs. Hard to find the first time and follow. Not sure why the bathrooms are still not open. Covid is over. I like the member entrance.

We still had a good time and will be going back to walk the trails with the dogs.

It is a beautiful trail during the spring and summer with lots of critters to look out for. The lake is also very nice to kayak on as well and overall it is a very peaceful park and I enjoyed it a lot!

Clean park, enjoyable staff and some lovely trails make for an excellent experience. The placement of the fire pits can be a little to close to the road which takes away a decent amount of the privacy. All in all, lovely time.

Amazing area to relax, recharge and reconnect with the nature throughout the year in the City of Waterloo, Ontario Canada.

A wonderful place to just relax. The sound of the lake, the ducks and the birds, and the wind breezing through. Just a relaxing experience! Loved it!

I went for a walk through this lovely wooded walk. It is still in winter state with bare trees with a few evergreens.

Rude and unprofessional staff!
I’m not a picky person by nature but the standard of customer service is subpar at best here!

They need to train their people a lot better.

I've never camped her but used this area many times for hiking and photography. Sunrise and sunsets are great over the lake.

Great for camping (during the season) and lots of trails if you want to walk your dog or walk solo.

I went for the day just about a little over an hour drive from Toronto due to traffic. This park seems to have a lot more to offer than just your average park. This is worth the drive and lots to explore. Great place for my photoshoot with my model Regina. More photos will be taken when I come back to visit. Reymando.com

I always love going here! It is a get away in the city. Beautiful walking trails that are open all year, a little lake with a beach! Definitely worth a visit!

Great Spacing Between Sites, Very Clean Comfort Station, shower stalls are modern and tidy, relatively empty (not many sites are full), wood is not expensive $8.50 and is a fair size, good selection of sites, fair beach, lovely trails, staff are great.

Nice little park close to the universities, bike, hike, swim, or kayak. (Bring your own) all venues are still closed. Get out and get some sun. Plenty of parking, bathrooms available.

We just got home early from what was supposed to be a week-long camping trip.
At first, things were great. It was wet, but we came prepared for weather. The staff was friendly & worked hard to keep common areas clean. The neighbouring campers (both seasonal & short-term) were all respectful & pleasant. There was a minor issue with overpaying for parking, and staff was awesome with getting that fixed. The beach isn't the cleanest, and we managed to bring a leech out with us, but were also expecting that.
What we weren't expecting was a cockroach infestation that destroyed our food supplies & camping gear. Again, the staff was amazing & offered to move us to a site on higher ground, but instead refunded us so we could leave early. I was very happy with the resolution, it's just a shame that we had to cut our trip short & lost so much expensive gear. Hopefully, we can rid the tents of the roaches.

Very nice park. Very clean. Overcast windy day though and then it started to drizzle. Didn't really get to enjoy it. I will go back.

Nice little nature spot close to city center, some older growth forest areas, lots of geese, and these little caterpillars. *correction, these look like gypsy moths

Good place for a city with not much to do, unless you are a student. I think the ticket to get in was overrated, for a beach with no sand, but full of bird poop. The city needs to work a bit harder to have some attractions for residents.

It has a lot of nice picnic areas, a beach, a boat launch, camping areas, and some trails, but I took one star off because leeches! Lol I got bit by a leech when I went in the water, so heads up everyone

It's an awesome place to be! The creek is so serene and peaceful! Amazing place to camp or for a small picnic party. Pets are allowed in the area but not in the beach! The beach is pretty decent!

Wonderful and beautiful place, beware of leeches in the water though, and remember to pick up after your dog too. It's difficult to walk around all the dog poo.

I took my daughter to the beach. She had lots of fun until she got two leech bites. Please be careful when you go in the water.:)

Not a ton of trail options, but walking along the lake is quite nice and there’s some open spaces for picnics and sports.

Its a great spot to ski, however disappointed that people walk all over the track set ski trails. Needs more enforcement. When paying money to use trails its too bad they are in poor shape.

It's a great trail but we didn't want to pay $20 for our family to walk an hour so we went somewhere else. Great price for a day or several hours but not for an hour winter walk.

**update, summer 2020 my son was playing on the beach and came out with three leaches on his foot.

Beautiful and clean. Unfortunately the beach is not so nice when the geese take over and poop all over the beach and grassy area of the beach. Beautiful and well kept trails to bike and hike all year round. Easy access too. We have yet to camp here because we live near by, but I will update if we ever do.

We are now seasonal campers here.the staff is super friendly, the park is clean, nice trails to hike, roaming turkeys are fun to watch.

Laurel Creek is amazing. Started going early last year and watched the place flourish and grow over the following months. It eventually gets drained later in the year, but its okay, nice to remember about and there are still trails if you ever want to go back in the winter months.

Starting to get a much needed face lift. Day use areas are great for larger groups ample provided seating and tables.

Wonderful abundance of wildlife however I thought the beach would have been a little bit bigger. It is a very nice place for small children and I love how the canoe rental is affordable.

A great location for walking, running, spending time with friends and family, specially beside the beach and around sunset!

Laurel Creek is a nice park. The pull through sites are spacious. The services all seem to be at the front of the sites so bring a significant amount of 30 amp cords and hoses. I'd estimate we need 60' but with a longer trailer you'd need more for sure (site 48). The trails are well groomed and well marked. The beach area is small. People appeared to be fishing in various places around the reservoir.

Very pretty paddling area and a small nice Beach for swimming. For how close it is to an urban areas it is amazingly serene and really feels like being on nature.

Nice place to take the family for hikes but wouldn't really go swimming as it's a reservoir. There is a nice sandy beach but we just like to play in the sand and dip our feet.

Nice area with lots of birds to watch but $7 per person to enter (regardless of time) is crazy overpriced and the bathrooms are super dingy in the picnic shelters.

Awesome spot to camp, go for a nature walk or just spend some time out of the city. There are a few trails around that make for excellent hiking, and if you're an avid photographer you may get some cool opportunities. Shelters are clean, well kept and very spacious! My family has been there twice, and will definitely be going again.

Love this campground. Large campsites, clean facilities, and staff are always driving around to ensure the safety of campers.

A great park, but you have to pay to get in which does not make sense, as its in waterloo, the place does not offer much, a beach, trails, and kayaking (extra cost). These facilities are available across many parks and free of cost. Overall it was a good experience no doubt, but I would not be pay to go there again

Great RV camping near St Jacobs Market, sites are nicely spaced for privacy but I was surprised at how many seasonal campers there are located there

Super? Staff was awesome. Gave us a free pass to visit my Brother-in-law for dinner. Nice park. Really close to the city.

Staff are very friendly. The alcohol ban makes the park family friendly, no loud parties. Staff are friendly. Amenities are well kept.

Great birthday spot. We had a group of ten 5 year olds and they had a great time trawling the pond for invertebrates. Highly recommend for a kids birthday

Wow, what a hidden gem. I'm a regular to Ontario Parks but they are hard to get a decent site on short notice, so I looked into the regional conservation areas for a last minute getaway. Laurel Creek was exactly what I was looking for:
- not overly crowded
- lake swimming and canoeing
- quiet tent camping area separate from the trailers (no offence to trailer campers)
- walking trails
- less than 2 hrs from home (Niagara)

Had a great time, the park is very well maintained, and the tent sites are nicely spaced out

My only criticism is that I noticed a few of the tent sites (mine included) have a bit of slope to them making setting the tent on a flat spot a challenge.

Will be returning here for sure

I've been going to various campgrounds and RV parks for the better part of the last 15 years. Myself and my family are quiet and young and have never had a problem and never cause a problem. However the security in this park or a bunch of zealots and half the people that camp here are for locals you seem to have a very high opinion of themselves and feel the need to tell you what you can and can't do in their Park. I will never come to this park again and I would highly suggest anybody considering this park go somewhere else.

Lovely place to come for the day or camp. A little gem in the corner of the city. The swimming was surprisingly very nice. The water was clear and appeared to be clean. Like most GRCP's, they have a small beach with is sectioned off. There are lots of green space too and picnic tables. When I was there last (Aug 9,18) they had closed off their change rooms and had two porta pottys, one which was wheel chair accessible. So changing in and out of bathing suits would be very difficult here. Lots or parking.

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 extremely nice.

All around a great escape from reality. A lovely place to hang for the night and laugh with friends. Suggested you bring friends by the way. Marshmallows and fires all the way!

Great escape to the wilderness in the middle of the city! Decent sized sites, 30A & water but no sewer. Sites are semi private with lots of trees but not too dense between sites.

We really didn't get in to deep as the trails were saturated with water. But what I saw will be a great walk when it's all dried up