Cottages For Sale on Balsam Lake

Owning a cottage on Balsam Lake

Balsam Lake sits at the very top of the Trent-Severn Waterway. Every boat that crosses the system between Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay climbs to this lake and then starts going down again. That gives it a crossroads feel in summer, with cruisers passing through the Rosedale and Kirkfield locks and local boats heading up the Gull River to Coboconk at the north end.

It is a big, broad lake, about 16 km long, but a shallow one. The average depth is under 5 m, so the open water can build a sharp chop when the wind gets going, and the sheltered bays are where most people prefer to keep a boat. Most of the land around it is flat limestone country, with the Canadian Shield beginning just to the north.

This is a well-settled lake. Kawartha Conservation counted about 1,380 homes and cottages along its shore, and roughly 45% of the land within 30 m of the water had been developed by 2008. Expect neighbours, two provincial parks on the north shore, a steady flow of summer visitors, and a mix of year-round homes and older family cottages handed down over the years.

• Summit of the Trent-Severn
• Big open water
• Provincial parks
• Bass, walleye and muskie

History of Balsam Lake

Balsam Lake lies within the lands of Treaty 20, signed in 1818 with the Mississauga Nations, and within the traditional territory of the Williams Treaties First Nations. Coboconk, at the north end, takes its name from Indigenous names for the Gull River; one is usually translated as the place where the gulls nest.

Lumbering drove early settlement. The original white pine around the lake was cut between about 1850 and 1880, and John Bateman built a sawmill at Coboconk in 1851. The Toronto and Nipissing Railway reached Coboconk in 1872, and limestone quarrying and lime kilns kept the village busy well into the twentieth century.

For a time Balsam Lake was the end of the line. The Rosedale lock was finished in 1873, making Coboconk the farthest point a boat could reach from Lake Ontario. That changed in 1907, when the Kirkfield Lift Lock opened and let vessels continue west toward Lake Simcoe. The lake is also remembered for a 1926 storm that capsized a large canoe from a church youth camp; only four of the fifteen people aboard survived.

Boating at the summit of the Trent-Severn

Balsam connects in three directions. Head east through the Rosedale lock (Lock 35) and you drop into Cameron Lake and on toward Fenelon Falls. Head west along the Trent Canal and the Kirkfield Lift Lock (Lock 36) lowers you about 15 m toward Lake Simcoe. Head north and the Gull River takes you into Coboconk.

The lake's shallow average depth means wind matters. A strong breeze across the open middle can make a crossing uncomfortable in a small boat, so look at which way a lot faces and how protected its dock is. Mackenzie Bay, off West Bay, is a well-known spot where boats raft up on hot summer days.

Walleye, muskie and the Balsam slot rule

Balsam ranks among the most heavily fished lakes in Ontario, and it is known for walleye, bass and muskellunge. It has its own walleye rule inside Fisheries Management Zone 17: a sport licence holder can keep three walleye (one on a conservation licence), and none between 37 and 55 cm. Lake herring hold in the deeper basins.

The Gull River at Coboconk, from the dam down to the narrows above the lake, is a fish sanctuary that is closed to fishing in winter and early spring. Check the current Ontario regulations summary before you go out.

Water quality and a busy shoreline

Balsam is in reasonable shape for such a developed lake. The Kawartha Conservation plan found every sampled section of the lake met its phosphorus objective, and average phosphorus in the lake dropped by about 40% over the last few decades. Water turns over about three and a half times a year, fed mostly by the Gull and Burnt River systems.

The pressure is along the shore. About a quarter of the water's edge, around 22 km, has been hardened with walls, rock or lawn, and the plan estimates about 5% of shoreline septic systems are failing. Zebra mussels are part of the reason the Kawarthas have become clearer and weedier. A buyer with a natural, planted shoreline has something worth keeping.

Beaches and the two north-shore parks

Balsam Lake Provincial Park, on the northwest shore near Coboconk, has a sand day-use beach and hundreds of campsites. It draws a lot of summer visitors, so expect more traffic on the lake and on the roads near the park in July and August. Indian Point Provincial Park is also on the north shore.

There are five public beaches on the lake. Like other Kawartha beaches, they are posted unsafe after heavy rain from time to time, so check the local health unit before swimming at a public spot.

Coboconk, Kirkfield and getting supplies

Coboconk is the main village at the north end. It has a medical centre, post office, library, school and community centre, and Highway 35 runs through it. Kirkfield sits on the canal to the west, and Fenelon Falls, to the southeast, is the nearest larger town.

There is no hospital in Coboconk. Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay runs the 24-hour emergency department for the City of Kawartha Lakes. The Minden emergency department to the north closed permanently in June 2023, with services moved to Haliburton.