Waterloo Pinckney Trail to Blind Lake

Good trail overall. Loads of flies and mosquitoes.

A great day hike suited for most skill levels. Nice variety of wetlands, forest, and open meadows. Some beautiful walnut, sugar maple, and oak trees on this hike; keep your eyes out for wild crab apple in the spring. Blind lake is a great lunch stop; you can camp there with a permit. Use caution when crossing Hadley road and for mountain bikers on the last half a mile or so

Very scenic trail combining meadow, savannah and forest. On a hot day, you can swim in Blind Lake to cool off. There is an outhouse and a place to sit and rest before making a return trip, if you hike there and back. Ordinarily not a crowded trail unless a foot race is scheduled, but that’s rare.

I have hiked this trail many times. Actually, I just finished it again about 2 hrs ago. I often enter the trail from Goodband Rd. There is a nice little parking spot there and about 500 ft south of the trail. When hiking with the kids (it's easy with the youngest being 3 yrs old). In May naturally, the may flies can be a bit overwhelming in areas. Aside from that, its an alright hike. It's no superstition mtns but, not bad for lower MI. The campsite at the lake is nice, quite and tree covered. There are fire rings, tables, an outhouse and hand pump water.

Nice hike, although prefer loops rather than out and back. About 3.5 miles one way. Stayed at site 3 near the water, weather was nice on the way in but rained from 9pm till 8am. Was a bit windy and cold but not too bad. Hike out was nice.

I’m not sure what “scenic views” this description is talking about. The trail is well maintained but the vast majority of it is extreme green tunnel, we could barely see 3 feet off trail most of the hike. There are many marshlands with boardwalks over them, and the trail is quite narrow with a deep depression running along the middle for much of it (which leads me to believe it may have been open to the mountain bikers in the past). The best part of the trail is near the lakes where it does actually share the way with the bike friendly trails. Finally the forest opens up. That being said, the trail is beautifully maintained, but if you’re looking to see anything but the 3 feet on either side of you, this isn’t the hike for you.

One of my favorite hikes in the Waterloo-Pinckney system. Blind lake is absolutely beautiful and the campsite you can reserve there provides stunning sunrises on the lake. Stunning in the fall. Just keep an eye out for mountain bikers as the hike travels along part of the Potawatomi Trail.