Cottages For Sale on Charleston Lake

Owning a cottage on Charleston Lake

Charleston Lake feels farther north than it is. It sits on the Frontenac Axis, the strip of Canadian Shield that crosses the St. Lawrence near the Thousand Islands, so you get granite bluffs, pine and deep cold water within easy reach of Highway 401. The shoreline twists around about 100 islands and runs roughly 150 kilometres, which means most cottages look out on a bay or channel rather than one big open sweep.

More than 800 homes share the lake, but a large provincial park takes up a big piece of the southern shore, so a lot of the view stays wooded. The lake is deep, close to 90 metres in places, and it holds lake trout as well as bass, pike and crappie. Anglers and paddlers come back for the same reason cottagers do: there is always another bay to poke into.

Daily life leans on the hamlet of Charleston on the north shore and the village of Athens just beyond it, with Brockville as the nearest city. The lake association has been looking after the water since 1890, so there is a long tradition of cottagers taking an active part in the lake's care.

• Deep clear water
• More than 100 islands
• Provincial park
• Granite shoreline

History of Charleston Lake

People were using this shoreline long before cottages. Inside the provincial park, a sandstone overhang on the Sandstone Island Trail served as a rock shelter for Indigenous people thousands of years ago, and excavations there turned up artifacts. A rock-and-tree formation on the lake, long known locally as Indian Head, is still pointed out to visitors.

By the 1880s Charleston Lake had become a summer destination for well-off vacationers. The hamlet of Charleston, with a post office since 1853, grew a tannery, a sawmill, boat liveries, stores and inns such as the Harbour View Hotel and the Cedar Park Inn, and it hosted regular regattas. Early 1900s photographs by J. Lamb show big fish catches, and many of the local guides and oarsmen of that era live on in the names of points and bays.

The Charleston Lake Association formed in 1890. Ontario created the provincial park in the 1970s, and from the early 2000s the area was a peregrine falcon reintroduction site, a five-year program that wrapped up in 2005.

Granite, islands and the Frontenac Axis

The lake was carved out of the Frontenac Axis, a narrow arm of the Canadian Shield, and it shows. Shorelines are often rocky with pine and oak above, broken by sheltered coves. Blue Mountain, inside the park, rises to 194 metres and was the highest point in the old Leeds County, with a lookout over the lake. The area is also habitat for the black rat snake, Canada's largest snake, so expect to share the woods with wildlife.

Lake trout and warm-water fishing

Charleston mixes shallow, weedy bays with basins that drop to about 90 metres, so it supports both cold-water and warm-water fish. Ontario Parks lists lake trout, largemouth and smallmouth bass, northern pike, black crappie and yellow perch as the main targets. Trout anglers work the deep water, while bass and crappie fishing happens around the islands and points. Check the current Fisheries Management Zone regulations before you go, since seasons and limits differ by species.

Living next to Charleston Lake Provincial Park

The park covers 2,596 hectares and has 248 campsites, including 10 backcountry sites reached by water, plus yurts and a rustic cabin. It runs from early May to mid-October and has a public boat launch, two buoyed swimming beaches with gently sloping bottoms, and canoe and kayak rentals.

Powerboats are allowed on the lake, but parts of Running's Bay and Slim Bay inside the park are motorboat-free, which makes those areas quiet for paddlers. Hunting is also a listed park activity, something to know if your property borders park land.

High water and the Gananoque River

Charleston Lake is the main headwater of the Gananoque River. In wet springs Cataraqui Conservation has issued flood watches naming Charleston Lake, with low-lying shoreline flagged as an area of concern. If you are looking at a cottage that sits close to the waterline, ask the seller about past spring high water and check the building's elevation.

Charleston, Athens and Brockville

The hamlet of Charleston on the north shore is the traditional jumping-off point, with Athens a short drive north for everyday errands. Brockville is the nearest city for hospital care, big-box shopping and the 401, and Gananoque sits to the southwest. The Township of Leeds and the Thousand Islands has its office in Lansdowne.