Cottages For Sale on Rice Lake

Owning a cottage on Rice Lake

Rice Lake is long, shallow and warm, a very different animal from the rocky Shield lakes to the north. It runs roughly 30 km east to west and about 5 km across, but its deepest water is only around 8 to 10 metres. That makes for fast-warming summer swimming water, rich weed beds and one of the most productive inland fisheries in Ontario. It also sits south of the Kawarthas, between Peterborough and Cobourg, with Bewdley only about 15 km north of Port Hope.

The shoreline is rolling farm country, with drumlin hills, open fields and long views across the water instead of granite and pine. Cottages, year-round homes, trailer parks and public waterfront parks share the shore. Hamlets such as Bewdley at the west end, Gores Landing and Harwood on the south shore, and Roseneath and Hastings to the east give the lake a lived-in, small-town feel.

Because the lake is so long and shallow, wind matters. A steady breeze down its length can build steep, choppy waves quickly, and in high-water springs the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority warns of shoreline flooding and erosion. Picking the right stretch of shore, and the right height above the water, is a big part of buying here. Rice Lake also borders two First Nations, Hiawatha on the north shore and Alderville near the south, whose lands and histories are woven through the lake's story.

• Fishing
• Drumlin islands
• Trent-Severn boating
• Shorter drive

History of Rice Lake

People have lived around Rice Lake for thousands of years. On the north shore near Keene, the Serpent Mounds were built about 2,000 years ago by people archaeologists call the Point Peninsula complex, including a long effigy mound shaped like a serpent. The site was named a National Historic Site in 1982 and has been closed to the public since 2009. The Mississaugas called the lake Pemadashdakota, roughly the lake of the burning plains, and the English name comes from the wild rice they harvested from its shallows. Most of those rice beds were lost when the Hastings dam raised the water in the 1800s.

Settlement followed the water. Robert Harwood bought land on the south shore in 1828, and Thomas Gore bought land in 1844 where Gores Landing grew up. Bewdley began in the 1820s as Black's Landing. In 1854 the Cobourg and Peterborough Railway opened a bridge across the lake on about 4 km of wooden trestles from Harwood to Hiawatha. Winter ice battered it, and it was closed within six years, though old rail bed can still be seen along the south shore. Steamboats carried passengers and freight on the lake through the late 1800s.

Shallow water and a big fishery

Rice Lake is known as one of Ontario's largest and most productive inland fisheries. Muskellunge, walleye and largemouth bass draw anglers in open water season, and in winter the ice fills with people chasing jumbo perch, crappie and bluegill. The shallow, nutrient-rich water that grows those fish also grows plenty of weeds. Waterfront in a shallow bay may need a long dock to reach boating depth, so look at the water in front of a lot in midsummer before you buy.

Wind, waves and spring flooding

The Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority issues flood messages for the Rice Lake shoreline when water from the whole Trent watershed, including the Haliburton reservoirs, the Kawartha Lakes and the Otonabee River, piles up in spring. In April 2025 the lake reached 187.0 m and was rising 3 to 5 cm a day, with warnings that waves on windy days could erode shorelines. The 2014 flood peaked at 187.43 m, and 2019 was another high-water year.

For a buyer, those numbers are useful. Ask how high the cottage, septic bed and well sit above 187.43 m, and whether the property took on water in 2014 or 2019. Shoreline structures on a long, open lake also need to be built for waves.

Boating the Trent-Severn from Rice Lake

Rice Lake is part of the Trent-Severn Waterway. Boats come in from Peterborough down the Otonabee River and leave east through the Trent River toward Hastings. Lock 18 at Hastings, built between 1908 and 1912 with an average lift of about 2.7 m, is the last lock before the lake when heading upstream. From there it is about 60 km of open channel, across the lake and up the Otonabee, to Lock 19 at Scotts Mills in Peterborough, so lake owners have a lot of cruising water without a single lockage.

Townships and short-term rentals

The lake touches several municipalities, and the rules differ. Hamilton Township in Northumberland County takes in Bewdley, Gores Landing and Harwood along the south and west shore. Alnwick/Haldimand covers the southeast, where Alderville First Nation's reserve lands sit near the shore. Otonabee-South Monaghan in Peterborough County faces them along the north shore, alongside Hiawatha First Nation.

Alnwick/Haldimand requires short-term rentals to hold a township licence. Its licensing by-law took effect on April 1, 2024, and council approved amendments in June 2024 (BL 46-2024), with penalties and possible licence revocation for owners who do not comply. Check directly with Hamilton Township or Otonabee-South Monaghan for their current position before you buy a property there for rental income.

Parks, launches and public waterfront

At the west end, the Rice Lake Conservation Area, acquired by the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority in 1972, protects part of the Bewdley Marsh and has trails down to the water. Bewdley's Optimist Park has a play structure and picnic tables, and the Bewdley docks are a popular spot for boating and fishing. Gores Landing and Harwood each have a waterfront park too. Cobourg and Port Hope, a short drive south, handle hospital care and larger shopping, and Bewdley is about 15 km north of Port Hope.