Cottages For Sale on Three Mile Lake

Owning a cottage on Three Mile Lake

Three Mile Lake is a quieter, inland Muskoka lake in the Township of Muskoka Lakes, northeast of Port Carling and west of Port Sydney. For buyers, it offers an address in the Township of Muskoka Lakes away from the three big lakes the township is known for. It sits away from the big lakes like Lake Rosseau and Lake Muskoka, and its appeal is a simpler kind of cottage life with several Muskoka towns within reach.

The lake has a main basin and an arm known as Hammell's Bay, with small communities such as Utterson, Dee Bank and Ufford nearby. It is a lake of local roads and small hamlets rather than a town waterfront. Bracebridge, Port Carling and Huntsville each handle a different part of the weekly errands, so owners get used to choosing their town by the job at hand.

What a buyer needs to know up front is water quality. Three Mile Lake has a long record of late-summer blue-green algae blooms, confirmed by the health unit in several recent years and in different parts of the lake. That does not make it a bad place to own, but it should shape how you use lake water and what you check before you buy.

• Quiet setting
• Close to Lake Rosseau
• Family cottages

History of Three Mile Lake

The lake lies in the old geographic Township of Watt, one of the townships organized in the area around 1870. Watt was merged into the new Township of Muskoka Lakes on January 1, 1971. Today Dee Bank and Ufford, both close to the lake, are listed among the township's communities.

A record of algae blooms

Blue-green algae have been a recurring issue. A bloom was reported in August 2016. In 2018 the health unit cautioned residents across the whole lake. Lab tests confirmed blooms at the west end near Dee Bank in 2019, in the east end of the main basin in 2020, at the north end of Hammell's Bay in 2021, across the lake and Hammell's Bay over Labour Day weekend in 2022, and along the North Shore Road area in 2025.

Blooms usually show up in late summer and can drift with wind and currents. During an advisory, the health unit tells residents not to drink, cook with or brush teeth with lake water from the affected area, and boiling does not remove the toxins.

Drinking water and everyday use

If you buy here, plan on a drinking water source that does not rely on the lake during bloom season, such as bottled water or a drilled well. The health unit also advises against relying on home treatment systems during a bloom, against filling pools with affected water, and against eating fish organs.

Swimming is still part of cottage life on the lake, but owners learn to check for advisories from the Township of Muskoka Lakes and the health unit, especially from August onward.

Getting around the area

Three Mile Lake sits between Port Carling and Port Sydney, with Utterson nearby. Bracebridge, Port Carling and Huntsville are the main service centres for groceries, hardware and health care, and the location gives owners a choice of towns depending on the errand.

Protecting the lake as an owner

Blooms are fed by nutrients like phosphorus, so the things owners control make a real difference: a well-maintained septic system, a natural vegetated buffer along the shore, and no fertilizer near the water. If you see a suspected bloom, report it to the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.