Cottages For Sale on Haliburton Lake

Owning a cottage on Haliburton Lake

Haliburton Lake is a 1950s cottage community that grew up around an old logging depot. Most owners are seasonal, though some live here year round, and the association counts roughly 625 properties around the shore. The Gull River runs straight through, coming in from Percy Lake on the east side and leaving at the southwest corner by Fort Irwin. The lake lies just west of the southern part of Algonquin Park, high in the county's northeast corner.

Fort Irwin is the practical centre of lake life. The marina there handles groceries, the LCBO, gas and fishing supplies, so a lot of everyday errands never require a drive to town. Nearby is a public park with a sandy beach, a picnic shelter, play equipment and volleyball nets, which makes this one of the easier Haliburton lakes for families who want a public swim spot.

The fishery is a quiet draw. Alongside lake trout and bass, the municipality lists cisco, lake whitefish and burbot here, plus the rare Haliburton Gold trout. The southern part of the lake gets the most fishing pressure, and both open-water and ice fishing are popular. Wildlife is part of the package too: herons, ducks, turtles and a large loon population share the lake, and the cottage association runs benthic monitoring to keep track of its health.

• Gull River headwaters
• Seasonal cottages
• Near Algonquin Park

History of Haliburton Lake

For most of its history this was Crooked Lake, at least to locals. The area was first surveyed in 1847, and in 1870 lumberman Mossom Boyd cleared the river from Oblong Lake up to Moose Lake and built a dam for log drives. Fort Irwin takes its name from James Moore Irwin, Boyd's partner, who built a lumber depot on Oblong Lake in 1886 whose buildings were laid out in a square like an old fort. After Irwin went bankrupt in the 1890s, other lumber firms used the depot into the 1920s. Until 1941 the Harburn Road was the only way in; that year a road from Redstone Lake to Fort Irwin opened.

Modern cottaging arrived almost all at once. Clayton Hodgson bought several hundred acres in 1940 and built a steam mill that brought the lake its first electricity. The name Haliburton Lake was registered in 1952, and that winter a large development was launched with plans for 800 cottages. At a Toronto show in February 1953, more than 100 buyers put down $100 deposits on lots they had never seen, and that spring about 300 prospective owners came up by chartered train. The South Bay Cottagers Association formed that summer and became the Haliburton Lake Cottagers' Association in 1954.

Fort Irwin, the lake's crossroads

Fort Irwin Marina at 5002 Haliburton Lake Road is the lake's general store, with groceries, LCBO, fuel and fishing supplies. There are two public launches: an asphalt and cement ramp at 5814 Haliburton Lake Road with roadside parking, and a cement and sand launch at 1245 Hodgson Road in Fort Irwin. The Hodgson Road site sits beside a park with a sandy beach, a picnic shelter, horseshoes, volleyball nets and a privy, which is a good spot to try the lake before you buy.

Haliburton Gold and a deep fish list

Dysart et al's lake guide flags Haliburton Lake for the rare Haliburton Gold trout, a local lake trout strain named for the colour of its eggs. The municipal list also includes smallmouth bass, rock bass, pumpkinseed, yellow perch, brown bullhead, white sucker, burbot, cisco and lake whitefish. Anglers favour the southern end, and the lake is fished both in open water and through the ice. Fisheries Management Zone 15 rules apply, including lake trout seasons and limits.

The Gull River runs through it

Haliburton Lake is a flow-through lake on the upper Gull River. Water arrives from Percy Lake to the east and leaves through a channel near Fort Irwin into Oblong Lake. The Gull River basin works as a reservoir for the Trent-Severn Waterway, and lakes in the system typically rise during the spring melt and again in late fall, settle back by mid-June, and sit lowest in late winter. Expect some seasonal movement in water level at the dock.

How healthy is the lake?

Since 2019 the cottage association has run benthic sampling, looking at bottom-dwelling insects and other small creatures at four sites, which is a good long-term signal of lake health. Readings for pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature and conductivity stayed at healthy levels from 2019 to 2021, and the association's conclusion was that the lake is in good health with no major concerns.

A lake shaped by the 1953 subdivision

Because so much of the shoreline was sold in one push in the early 1950s, many cottages started from the same handful of plans; the developer offered four 24 by 30 foot designs. Plenty have since been expanded or replaced. The association also dedicated a community church and recreation centre in 1954, and it has long published a members' magazine. Bridges matter here too: the current Fort Irwin bridge dates from 1966, and the South Bay bridge was rebuilt after it collapsed under a truck in 1962.