Cottages For Sale on Cameron Lake

Owning a cottage on Cameron Lake

Cameron Lake is small by Kawartha standards, but it is deep, and the water moves through it fast. Two rivers pour in, the Burnt River from the north and the Rosedale River from Balsam Lake, and the whole lake drains out over the falls at Fenelon Falls. Kawartha Conservation estimates the water is replaced about twelve times a year, far more often than on most lakes nearby.

Owning here means being close to downtown Fenelon Falls, which sits on the lake's south shore. Town is an easy boat ride from most of the lake. Cameron sits between two locks, so it is also a natural stop for boats travelling the Trent-Severn, and summer traffic around the Fenelon Falls end can be steady in July and August, when the waterway is at its busiest.

The shore is well built up. About half of the land within 30 m of the water was developed by 2008, with close to 600 homes and cottages around the lake. Lots tend to be compact, and many are within easy reach of town services. Buyers who want quiet usually look at the stretches farther from the lock and the river mouths.

• Next to Fenelon Falls
• Deeper water
• Trent-Severn boating

History of Cameron Lake

Fenelon Falls, on the lake's south shore, was first known as Cameron's Falls. The village was renamed after the surrounding township and incorporated in 1874. The Victoria Railway arrived in 1876, and the line later became part of the Grand Trunk and then Canadian National before it was abandoned in 1983 and turned into a trail.

Steamboats and log drives were common on these waters in the 1800s once the dams and locks at Fenelon Falls and Rosedale were in place. Construction of the Fenelon Falls lock, between Cameron and Sturgeon lakes, began in 1885. The village museum is housed in a home built in 1837.

Living between Lock 34 and Lock 35

Cameron sits between the Fenelon Falls lock (Lock 34) to the south and the Rosedale lock (Lock 35) to the west. Go through Rosedale and you are on Balsam Lake, the summit of the waterway. Go down at Fenelon Falls and you are on Sturgeon Lake, with Bobcaygeon and Lindsay within reach.

The Fenelon Falls locks handled about 7,000 boats in 2011, so the channel near town is busy on summer weekends.

A deep lake with a fast turnover

Cameron is one of the deeper Kawartha lakes, averaging over 9 m with a maximum near 18 m. That depth, and the volume of river water flowing through, sets it apart from its shallow neighbours.

The fast flushing is a mixed blessing. Cameron takes in a lot of phosphorus from upstream, and three of the four sections Kawartha Conservation sampled were above the provincial objective. The high flow keeps it from becoming an algae lake, and no widespread blooms had been documented when the plan was written. Wikipedia notes the lake is not considered eutrophic for this reason.

Fishing Cameron Lake

Smallmouth and largemouth bass, walleye, northern pike and muskellunge are the main targets, with the odd tiger muskie reported. Fisheries Management Zone 17 rules apply, including a walleye slot and a high minimum size for muskie.

Both river ends have seasonal sanctuaries. The Rosedale River from the dam down to Cameron Lake, and the Fenelon River below the Fenelon Falls dam, are closed to fishing through winter and into May.

Swimming and public access

The lake's one public beach is on Bond Street in Fenelon Falls. Like many Kawartha beaches, it is sometimes posted unsafe after heavy rain, so check before you swim. Most cottagers swim off their own docks, where the deeper water is a plus.

Fenelon Falls on your doorstep

Few Kawartha lakes are this close to a full-service town. Fenelon Falls has schools, the seasonal museum and the everyday services of a lake town, and it is easy to reach by water or road. For hospital care, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay, south of the lake, runs the area's 24-hour emergency department.