Gliders, Trails, and Good Pizza: A Weekend in Gregory and Unadilla
Gregory and Unadilla Township don't announce themselves. There's no big sign telling you to slow down, no cluster of billboards. The area actually straddles the line between Washtenaw and Livingston counties, though everything here shares a Gregory mailing address, and it sits just north of Chelsea. Much of it falls within the Pinckney Recreation Area, which brings the Potawatomi Trail and a scatter of lakes right into the mix. Spend a weekend out here and you'll find a handful of genuinely good reasons to stick around: trails, water, a couple of local watering holes, a general store that's become the heart of the place, and, if you time it right, gliders drifting overhead in near silence.
Hit the Trails: Lakelands, Potawatomi, and the B2B
Downtown Gregory's trailhead for the Lakelands Trail is the easiest place to start. Unadilla Township built a proper stop here, with a pavilion, picnic tables, bike racks, and a horse mount, and on any given morning you'll find walkers, cyclists, and the occasional rider passing through on the Lakelands Trail. It's an unhurried scene, the kind of low-key foot traffic that sets the tone for the rest of the day.
Beyond the Lakelands Trail, most of Gregory and Unadilla Township sits inside the much larger Pinckney Recreation Area, roughly 11,000 acres of state land spread across Washtenaw and Livingston counties. The centerpiece is the Potawatomi Trail, a roughly 17-mile loop that's become one of the best-known mountain biking trails in southern Michigan, with shorter 9- and 11-mile options for anyone who doesn't want the full loop. It's multi-use (hikers, mountain bikers, and cross-country skiers in winter), and the trail runs a one-way system to keep bikers and hikers from colliding: hikers go counterclockwise, bikers clockwise. A few other trails branch off it or run nearby: the Crooked Lake Trail (about 4.4 miles), the Silver Lake Trail (about 2.3 miles), and the Losee Lake Trail (about 3.3 miles, foot traffic only, a good pick for birdwatching without dodging bikes). For anyone after a bigger trip, the Waterloo-Pinckney Trail runs point-to-point for roughly 35 miles, connecting Pinckney to the adjacent Waterloo Recreation Area, a multi-day backpacking route for the ambitious, passing through Park Lyndon North and Park Lyndon South along the way.
Lyndon Township Hall is also a trailhead, this one for the Border-to-Border (B2B) Trail, a paved, non-motorized pathway that runs the length of Washtenaw County roughly along the Huron River, linking Chelsea to Dexter, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and beyond. It's still being built out (around 40 miles are finished so far, with a planned total closer to 55-70), but the Lyndon Township segment is complete, and it's a solid option for anyone who wants a paved ride rather than the Potawatomi's singletrack.
Lakes and Camping in the Pinckney Recreation Area
The lakes are the other big draw of the recreation area, with hiking, mountain biking, camping, fishing, and hunting all within a short drive of downtown Gregory or Chelsea. Silver Lake, near the park headquarters, has a swim beach and rents kayaks and canoes. Halfmoon Lake is the main day-use hub, with a large sandy beach, a bathhouse, horseshoe pits, and a boat launch. From Halfmoon and Bruin Lake, boaters can work through a connected chain of lakes that includes Blind and Watson, all linked by water. Crooked Lake and Pickerel Lake offer separate boat access nearby, though Crooked Lake isn't open to swimming, and Losee Lake and Gosling Lake sit elsewhere in the park, each with their own access. Several of these double as campgrounds: Bruin Lake Modern Campground has close to 190 sites with electrical service, a boat launch, and swimming, while Blind Lake and Crooked Lake offer rustic, hike-in style camping for a quieter trip. There's also a yurt at Glenbrook, right along the Potawatomi Trail, for anyone who wants a roof without a full cabin.
Hunting is allowed in designated parts of the recreation area during the appropriate seasons, and the lakes are well known locally for good fishing, so it's a legitimate destination for outdoor sport as much as it is for a casual afternoon hike.
Play a Round of Pickleball
Right in town, Unadilla Township's Webb Street complex has pickleball courts open to anyone. It's become a regular draw for locals looking to get outside for an hour, and it sits close enough to everything else downtown that it's an easy stop before or after a meal.
Watch the Gliders at Richmond Field
Head out to Richmond Field, 19935 Doyle Road in Gregory, around one o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, sometime between April and November, and you'll see it: a small engine towing a glider into the sky, then peeling away to leave it riding the wind in near silence. The sound comes from the Sandhill Soaring Club, an all-volunteer, nonprofit group that's flown from this same grass runway since 1984, and opens it to the public for discovery rides most Saturdays and Sundays. No reservation needed, just show up and sign the sheet. It's named for the Sandhill Cranes that nest nearby and are often seen sharing the same sky as the gliders.
Catch the Friday Market at Joslin Lake
Right at the corner of Joslin Lake and Barnum, Unadilla School House Park has picked up a new draw of its own this year: a small farmers market that just started up in summer 2026. The lake itself sits right on a county line, split between Unadilla Township in Livingston County and Lyndon Township in Washtenaw County. The market runs Fridays, 4-8 PM, on a handful of dates through the season: June 19, July 17, August 21, September 18, and October 9. It's already shaping up to be the kind of quaint, low-key gathering that fits right in with everything else out here.
Stop at the Unadilla Store
A few minutes outside downtown, the Unadilla Store has come under new ownership recently, and the changes have made it more of a hub than ever. It now pumps gas, diesel, and rec fuel, so it's become a real stop for anyone passing through, not just locals. Inside, the kitchen turns out pizza and other food to order, the hand-dipped ice cream has become its own small draw on a warm afternoon, and they carry bait, which matters more than you'd think this close to the water.
This summer, the store has leaned into being a gathering spot on top of all that: Friday car shows and music have become a regular thing in the lot, with a live band showing up some weeks. It's turned an errand stop into a reason to linger.
That's largely thanks to Bruin Lake Campground just up the road. Campers rolling in for the weekend lean on the store for fuel, food, ice, and bait all in one stop, and the locals are just as glad to have it: a genuine everyday-use kind of place, not a tourist trap.
Grab a Meal at the Country Pub
Downtown, the Country Pub is Gregory's go-to spot for a meal and a drink, known around town for genuinely good food (the steaks are a standout) and the kind of service that makes it feel like the town's living room. It's an easy stop after a morning on the trail or an afternoon watching gliders come in.
Have Lunch or Drinks at the Inverness Tavern
On North Territorial Road, near North Lake, the Inverness Tavern has come under new ownership and it shows. The pizza is great, the craft cocktails have become a draw of their own, and the owners and staff are the kind of friendly that makes a place feel like it's yours after one visit. The crowd has grown accordingly, with golfers wrapping up a round across the street at Inverness Country Club starting to make the walk back over, joining the regular mix of locals. Lunch, dinner, or just drinks, it's become one of the better reasons to spend time in Gregory.
The Whole Picture
None of this is coordinated. Nobody at the General Store is checking the glider club's flight log before deciding when to open the fryer, and neither the Country Pub nor the Inverness Tavern is timing happy hour around thermals. But it all adds up to a weekend that fills itself in naturally: a walk on the trail, a game of pickleball, a drive out to watch the gliders, a Friday evening at the market, a stop at the General Store, and a meal to close it out at the Pub or the Tavern.
It's a small, unassuming kind of place, the sort of town you only really appreciate once someone points out everything that's actually going on in it.
Curious what everyday life actually feels like in towns like Gregory and Unadilla, or what it's like to live near this corner of the Chelsea countryside? Lianna Naebeck knows this corridor from the ground up. Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
