Cottages For Sale on Lake Muskoka

Owning a cottage on Lake Muskoka

Lake Muskoka is the largest of Muskoka's Big Three and the busiest. It reaches from the Gravenhurst waterfront in the south up to Port Carling, and west to Bala, where the lake drops into the Moon River. At roughly 12,100 hectares there is room for town wharves, sheltered island channels and open stretches where the wind builds a proper chop. The feel of the lake changes a lot from one bay to the next, so the first job for a buyer is choosing a corner.

This is an island lake. Provincial fisheries staff measure about 209 km of island shoreline, which is why so many cottages here are reached by boat rather than by car. The shore is mostly Canadian Shield rock and pine, with shallower, softer water in some bays near river mouths. Expect company. The province rates shoreline development as intense, and boats moving between Port Carling, Bala, Beaumaris and Gravenhurst keep the main channels active all summer.

Lake Muskoka also offers the widest choice of property types of the three big lakes: island cottages with mainland parking, mainland homes on year-round roads, and places a short drive from the hospital and stores in Bracebridge or Gravenhurst. Most of the lake is in the Township of Muskoka Lakes, but the southeast corner falls in Gravenhurst and a small area by the Muskoka River is in Bracebridge. Each town has its own rental and building rules.

• Boathouses
• Steamship cruises
• Islands
• Port Carling locks

History of Lake Muskoka

Muskoka is Anishinaabe territory. The district's name is usually traced to Misquuckkey (Mesqua Ukie), an Ojibwe chief who signed Treaty 16 in 1815. Port Carling began as an Ojibwe settlement called Obajewanung, meaning gathering place; its residents were later pushed to relocate to Parry Island. Just west of Bala, the Wahta Mohawk community dates to 1881, when Haudenosaunee families moved here from Kanehsatà:ke.

Settlers followed the colonization road and the 1868 free grant lands, but thin Shield soil made farming hard, and logging and tourism took over. Alexander Cockburn put the steamer Wenonah on the lake in 1866. The railway reached Gravenhurst in 1875, turning its wharf into the place where travellers swapped trains for steamers, and the Port Carling locks opened the upper lakes to boats. Gravenhurst Bay once had 17 sawmills. The RMS Segwun, launched in 1887 as the Nipissing, still sails.

Bala was founded in 1868 by Thomas Burgess and named after Bala in Wales. The north control dam at Bala was built in 1873, and a hydro plant followed in 1917. Wealthy American families, the Carnegies and Mellons among them, summered near Beaumaris, a stretch locals nicknamed Millionaires' Row. The Muskoka Lakes Association, formed in 1894, is described as Canada's first cottagers' organization.

Bala's dams and spring water levels

Lake Muskoka's level is set at Bala, where MNRF-owned dams release water into the Moon River under the Muskoka River Water Management Plan. That plan, finished in 2006, replaced a 1940 agreement and covers 42 dams and generating stations across the watershed. The Township of Muskoka Lakes has no control over the dams.

Spring is when levels matter. Measured at Beaumaris, peak spring levels ranged from roughly 225.5 m to 226.5 m between 2003 and 2019. In the 2019 flood the lake reached about 226.45 m, above the plan's flood level, after heavy rain fell on a deep snowpack. If you are looking at a boathouse or a low dock, ask how it fared in 2013 and 2019.

Island channels, open water and getting around

The island-studded stretches around Port Carling and Beaumaris keep the water calmer but call for slow speeds and careful navigation, while the wider open stretches take more wind. From Port Carling, boats lock up into Lake Rosseau, so a Lake Muskoka cottage effectively opens onto all three big lakes.

Public launches include Bala (Weismiller Street), Milford Bay, Port Carling (Bailey Street and West Street), Torrance, Muskoka Wharf in Gravenhurst and two sites in Bracebridge. Several township wharves, including Beaumaris, charge docking fees, and parking a boat at municipal property may need a permit. Island owners should sort out long-term mainland parking and a marina slip before closing.

Lake trout, walleye and a fishery in recovery

Lake Muskoka has been through a lot. The provincial fact sheet says lake trout crashed in the 1970s, largely from DDT-related reproductive failure, and have not fully recovered. The lake is stocked with yearling lake trout every year, with some natural reproduction. Walleye collapsed and have largely come back, and whitefish and cisco, once badly depressed, are thought to be rising.

Bass, pike and walleye fishing in the bays is the bread and butter for most cottagers. The Muskoka River below Bracebridge Falls is a fish sanctuary from April 1 to June 15. Mercury has long led to consumption advice for larger lake trout and bass, so check the province's current Guide to Eating Ontario Fish before keeping big ones.

Water quality, bays and invasive species

Most of the lake is low in nutrients, which is good news for clarity. Gravenhurst Bay was the exception in the 1970s, when it was rich enough to grow heavy algae, but it improved once sewage plants began removing phosphorus. Water clarity varies across the lake; the provincial sheet lists a Secchi reading of about 3.5 m.

Spiny water flea arrived in 1989 and freshwater jellyfish in 2002. Clean, drain and dry your boat when moving between lakes. When we checked the township's beach list, swimming advisories were posted at Hanna Park in Port Carling and Baycliffe Park in Milford Bay, so check current postings before a swim at public beaches.

Towns, services and hospitals

Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, Bala and Port Carling ring the lake, so supplies are rarely far away. Port Carling has a community health hub with a nurse practitioner and a doctor's office. The closest hospital for most of the lake is South Muskoka Memorial Hospital at 75 Ann Street in Bracebridge, run by Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare, with walk-in clinics in Bracebridge and Gravenhurst.