There are more than 330 parks to choose from in Ontario’s vast provincial park system. Once they open up in summer, choosing which one to visit might be overwhelming. I’ve simplified your choices by categorizing them into four easy chunks:

1. Parks popular among Artists
2. Parks popular among Birders and Butterfly Enthusiasts
3. Parks that are Easy to Find and Use
4. Parks popular in Winter

1. Parks Popular among Artists

Tom Thompson. A.Y. Jackson. Lawren Harris. These Group of Seven painters found their “scene” in Ontario Parks — so can you.

 ALGONQUIN PARK, HUNTSVILLE

Opening in 1893, Algonquin was Ontario’s first provincial park. It’s known for glassy lakes, fiery autumn leaves, canoe trips, and howling wolves on starry summer nights. Algonquin is also renowned for inspiring a treasure chest of iconic Canadian art.

Highlight: The Algonquin Art Centre pays homage to artists, including Group of Seven painter Tom Thompson, who died on Algonquin’s Canoe Lake in 1917.

 KILLARNEY, GEORGIAN BAY

This rugged, rocky gem captivated more Group of Seven masters, including A.Y. Jackson and Franklin Carmichael. They were inspired by Killarney’s pink granite and white quartzite along the shores of Georgian Bay. Hiking and sea kayaking are the park’s top pursuits.  Bring a sketchbook.

 GRUNDY LAKE, SUDBURY

Bridging the border between Southern and Northern Ontario is photographer-favourite Grundy Lake Provincial Park, a patchwork of pretty lakes whose “backcountry” campsites lie only 20 minutes by canoe from the park’s gateway. Rocky shoreline mixes with sand beaches, evergreens, and spectacular sunsets. Bring your bikes and your cameras.

2. Parks Popular among Birders & Butterfly Enthusiasts

Birders and butterfly lovers flock to Ontario Parks year after year for rare spottings and magnificent migrations. Three parks in Southern Ontario top the bill.

PRESQU’ILE, LAKE ONTARIO

Lake Ontario’s shores come alive in spring and fall with more than 300 species of birds. Presqu’ile’s marshy boardwalk and pristine 2.5-kilometre beach are the places to be with binoculars in hand.

Bird Bonus: Tens of thousands of swans, geese, and ducks stop by each March for Waterfowl Weekends in Presqu’ile Bay.

RONDEAU, LAKE ERIE

As one of the system’s oldest parks, Rondeau has enjoyed many rounds of monarch butterfly migrations. This Lake Erie park is also home to 11 kilometres of beaches and is popular for windsurfing.

Tag You’re It: Rondeau hosts a Monarch Migration Festival each September with Monarch tagging demos and guided butterfly hikes.

LONG POINT, LAKE ERIE

Situated within a World Biosphere Reserve, Long Point is another lively Lake Erie spot. It’s among North America’s top destinations for birders. But it’s also known for its fishing, boating, and beach-going opps.

Canoeing & Birding: Water is calm for canoeing on Long Point’s sheltered marsh. Bird sightings abound.

3. Parks that are Easy to Find and Use

Yurts, heated cabins, and entry-level camping courses are popular at parks close to urban centres. Learn To Camp guides provide equipment, firewood, treats, and lots of expert advice.

BRONTE CREEK, OAKVILLE

The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is graced with Bronte Creek, a family-friendly park with hiking trails, farm animals, an outdoor pool, and overnight programs that teach beginners how to camp.

Rent-a-Yurt: Bronte also has three yurts for rent featuring bunk beds, electric heat, BBQs, and sunny decks.

SIX MILE LAKE, BARRIE

North of the Greater Toronto Area in cottage country is Six Mile Lake. Located off Highway 400, this park is easy to reach. Its gentle waters are ideal for canoeing. Dock space can be reserved for power boats.

Park Plus: Six Mile Lake Provincial Park offers guided programs in learning to camp and learning to fish.

RIDEAU RIVER, OTTAWA

This historic park lies along the Rideau Waterway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Families love it for its level, well-shaded campsites. For rent at nearby marinas: canoes, kayaks, and power boats.

City Sites: With Ottawa only 40 minutes away, Rideau River Provincial Park is a down-to-earth base for exploring the Nation’s Capital.

4. Parks Popular in Winter

Skating, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, even camping — there’s a winter full of activities in Ontario Parks.

ARROWHEAD, MUSKOKA

Arrowhead’s 1.3-kilometre ice skating trail snakes through pristine Muskoka woods. Torch-lit skating is scheduled throughout the winter on special Fire & Ice nights. There’s a snowtubing hill at Arrowhead, too. Plus nearly 40 kilometres of groomed cross-country ski and snowshoe trails.

Cabin Chronicles: Arrowhead’s one-room log cabins are cozy and quaint, with heaters, kitchenettes, multiple bunk beds, and sleds for transporting goods.

SLEEPING GIANT, THUNDER BAY

Sleeping Giant on Lake Superior is known for a massive rock formation that looks a little like a giant snoozing on its back. The park is also on the map for its annual Sleeping Giant Loppet — a cross-country ski festival for experts, beginners, families… the works. There are more than 50 kilometres of groomed trail for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing inside the park. Winter-friendly cabins (heated and well-equipped) are situated on the shore of a quiet lake and are available for rent.

Wildlife: In Sleeping Giant’s Boreal forest, expect sightings of deer, foxes, wolves, and lynx.

FRONTENAC, KINGSTON

Four-season backcountry camping is Frontenac’s forté, along with snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Trails meander through tall pine forest and across barren granite, a signature of the Canadian Shield.

Country Escape: Frontenac’s proximity to Toronto, Kingston, Montreal, and Ottawa offers accessible winter adventure to city dwellers.

“It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words had little to do with a winter’s drive through Muskoka, or maybe they did. Like any great pastime, a driving journey past frozen lakes and parks and villages under blankets of snow may well be about the experience rather than the destination. We’re not trying to reach Port Carling, or Rosseau, or Huntsville, or Bracebridge—though all of those destinations are worthy. The point is the journey.

What we see along these pathways is one of the reasons we choose to live in cottage country. Winter driving routes lead in all directions, twisting through the highlands of Huntsville, the farmlands near Bracebridge, and along the shorelines of Gravenhurst and Port Carling. Here are three winter routes I’ve driven often, both for my work as a realtor and for simple pleasure—passing time during this pandemic. These routes mix highway driving with slow meanders along country roads. You can drive an entire route in a single day, or carve a route into bits, savouring sections one day at a time. The key to a winter’s drive is taking time to look around rather than racing toward the finish line. As Emerson said: “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.”

Circling Lake Muskoka

At about 95 kilometres from start to finish, this route covers quintessential Muskoka: Gravenhurst, Bala, Port Carling, and Bracebridge. You can begin at any point as it’s a circle route. I’ll start in Gravenhurst, heading through the gates at the south end of town, following the main street past shops, bakeries, and the Gravenhurst Opera House, then dipping down toward the lake to Muskoka Wharf, where you’ll see the RMS Segwun and the Wenonah II often covered in snow and always sleeping peacefully in winter. Picking up Muskoka Road 169, we travel the shoreline of Lake Muskoka to Bala, where we turn into the village to pass by the falls, shops and bakeries, and the Kee to Bala. At Muskoka Road 118 we hang a right, following it to Port Carling. The route funnels through the centre of the village, a hub for shoppers, boaters and ice cream lovers. Next, Muskoka Road 118 tracks toward Bracebridge, its most spectacular point the Huckleberry Rock Cut, a canyon that reveals the majesty of the Canadian Shield. In Bracebridge we deviate off 118 for a brief swing through the main part of town, over the “brace bridge” that spans Bracebridge Falls, then down the hill to 118 once again where we hang a left. At the railway bridge near Muskoka Brewery, we turn right on Muskoka Road 17 and follow this Muskoka Beach Road—perhaps the prettiest piece of the drive—back to the town of Gravenhurst.

Huntsville Highlands Tour

This hilly route has many possibilities and is especially pretty in winter. We’ll start on Huntsville’s main street. At the north end of town we head right on Highway 60. Note: this is were the route has many, many options! We can sidestep by turning left onto Limberlost Road, where we follow its path, as twisty as a roller coaster. At Camp Olympia we turn around and retrace our path back to Highway 60. Back on Highway 60 we approach Canal Road. A right turn there leads us toward Deerhurst, then turns sharply right, over a bridge and left again behind Peninsula Lake. North Portage Road is next, which leads to South Portage Road near Dwight. At this junction we have more choice: a left turn will pop us back on Highway 60 where we can head back to Huntsville; a right turn will lead us along another roller coaster called South Portage Road, a lovely fun drive that tracks the north shore of Lake of Bays. At Brunel Road, we can turn right and circle back into Huntsville, or turn left and follow Brunel to Baysville. Steering left onto Highway 117 at Baysville follows the south shoreline of Lake of Bays. We turn left again at Dorset onto Highway 35, which meets up with Highway 60 and leads us (finally!) back to Huntsville.

Circling Lake Rosseau

Our last jaunt winds a circular route through some Muskoka classics: Port Carling, Rosseau, and Windermere. We’ll begin in Port Carling, where we’ll stop to gaze at “The Wall”, a mosaic painted on a brick wall in the centre of town to commemorate Port’s 100th anniversary. Heading east, we’ll hang a left onto Muskoka Road 25, also known as Brackenrig Road. This meandering route includes views of the lakes but also offers glimpses of local farm life. We dip left again onto Muskoka Road 24, taking time to veer into Windermere, where the famed hotel commands a grand view of the lake. Next we journey toward Ullswater on Highway 141 until we reach Rosseau, a village that’s sleepy in winter but alive in summer with a Friday farmers’ market, a general store, and a fabulous bakery. A left onto Highway 632 brings us to Minett and Port Sandfield, two of Muskoka’s tiniest, busiest villages in summer. Over the bridge at Port Sandfield, we pop out again onto Highway 118; a left turn leads us back to Port Carling.

The summer of 2018 was arguably one of the best ever with plenty of sunny days to get out and enjoy Muskoka’s lakes, trails and towns. Autumn 2018 is shaping up to be equally good—no need to put away the water toys just yet!

With autumn comes fall fairs, pumpkin spice everything, and a stunning show of colour as Muskoka’s deciduous trees bid farewell to summer.

There are many places to view those colours—I’ve shared some below—but first a bit about the science behind that brilliant shift from green to fiery gold, orange and red.

Just as some of the local wildlife (like those adorable chipmunks) build a stash of goodies to get them through the winter, trees need to stockpile some energy to help them survive the coldest months.

In the spring and summer, chlorophyll (a chemical in the leaves that gives them their green colour) produces nutrients for the tree through photosynthesis, a reaction that uses sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into glucose and oxygen. But as the days get shorter, nutrients are moved to the trunk, the chlorophyll starts to break down, and the bright colours of the leaves (which were there all along, hidden beneath the green) are revealed.

A dry summer and an autumn with sunny days and cool nights produce the brightest fall colours—2018 could be spectacular!

Roads a bit off the beaten path provide some of the best fall viewing opportunities. A wonderful driving tour, that also incorporates some local arts and culture, is the Muskoka Autumn Studio Tour. It’s Canada’s original studio tour—celebrating its 40th anniversary this year—and one of the few studio tours where you do actually visit the place that each artist works. Learn more and find a map at muskokaautumnstudiotour.com.

Algonquin and Arrowhead Provincial Parks are another beautiful option, each providing a different experience. Be aware that traffic can be congested in Algonquin Park in the fall with thousands of people driving Hwy 60 through the park—a mid-week visit is best to avoid the crowds. At Arrowhead, you can take to the trails to see the colours up close—Big Bend Lookout offers a unique vantage point for both fall colours and the Big East River.

You’ll find plenty more suggestions for driving tours courtesy of Muskoka Tourism and Explorers’ Edge at the links below:

discovermuskoka.ca/top-fall-driving-roads-muskoka

explorersedge.ca/muskoka-tourisms-fall-driving-tours

And don’t forget about the view from the water! Rent a canoe, kayak or paddleboard from a local outfitter if you don’t have your own, or take a cruise on the Lady Muskoka, Muskoka Steamships, or the SS Bigwin to see how the fall colours reflect along the shoreline.

For other recommendations on where to see fall colours in Muskoka, and when they’ll be at their peak, visit discovermuskoka.ca/ontario-fall-colour-report. Happy autumn!

If you love winter, there are plenty of ways to spend a day outdoors in Muskoka. But what if you don’t love winter? Our fair-weather friends (and those who just want a break from the cold and snow) need not despair-while you anxiously await the day when you can once again step outside in flip-flops, there are lots of options for indoor joy to be found in Muskoka’s arts and culture scene.

Live Shows
There’s nothing like a little music or an entertaining play to help drive the winter doldrums away. Muskoka’s music and theatre scene hums all year-round, with performances to suit just about any taste. If music soothes your soul, check out what’s on offer from Huntsville’s Algonquin Theatre, Huntsville Festival of the Arts, the Rene M Caisse Memorial Theatre in Bracebridge, the Gravenhurst Opera House, and Peter’s Players. Many local pubs also have live music on weekends (and sometimes weekdays), too.  If live theatre is your thing, the Huntsville Theatre Company and the Dragonfly Theatre Company both offer fun community theatre. Watch for the Rotary spring musicals in both Huntsville and Bracebridge, too!

Galleries
Winter is a great time for contemplation, and art is one of the best ways to contemplate both your inner and outer worlds. Fortunately, Muskoka is a hotspot for artists so there’s no lack of inspiration!Arts at the Albion in Gravenhurst is a co-operative gallery that showcases the work of 20 local artists and craftspeople. Its heritage home has a pretty cool vibe, too. The Chapel Gallery in Bracebridge hosts exhibitions primarily by members of Muskoka Arts and Crafts. In Huntsville, the galleries in Partners Hall at the Algonquin Theatreand the Canada Summit Centre highlight the works of members of the Huntsville Art Society and also occasionally host travelling exhibitions. Eclipse Art Gallery at Deerhurst Resort (just east of Huntsville) curates artworks from both Muskoka and across Canada for a one-of-a-kind collection.Many local artists also have gallery space at their studios. See the listings by the Huntsville Art Society and Muskoka Arts and Crafts for details.Once spring is here, you’ll also want to make a stop at the Oxtongue Craft Cabin and Gallery in Dwight. It’s a playful place to view art and has been delighting visitors to its out-of-the-way location for 40 years. And although not in Muskoka, the Algonquin Art Centre is always worth the drive to Algonquin Provincial Park in the summer months for some truly stunning works set in an equally stunning location.

Museums
Kids of all ages will love the Muskoka Discovery Centre at the Gravenhurst Wharf. Packed with both historical exhibits and interactive displays, it’s a great place to while away a winter day. Be sure to check out the new Watershed Wonders which includes, among other fun activities, a 96-inch virtual aquarium.Although its pioneer village is closed in the winter, the Muskoka Museum at Muskoka Heritage Place remains open year-round and offers an intriguing look into Huntsville’s past. Its current feature exhibit, Healthy Huntsville, provides a peek at early healthcare in the region (and visitors can see for themselves just how far we’ve come!). Note that the museum’s already inexpensive admission will be free on Family Day, February 17, 2020. Visit MHP again in the summer months to see the Steam Museum at the Rotary Village Station for an overview of steam and steamship history in North Muskoka.Once summer arrives, don’t forget to check out Bala’s Museum and its memories of Lucy Maud Montgomery, the Bethune Memorial House National Historic Site in Gravenhurst (the birthplace of medical pioneer Dr. Norman Bethune), the Muskoka Lakes Museum in Port Carling, and the Dorset Heritage Museum which are all closed during the winter months.

It arrived in fits and starts this year, but it appears that winter is finally here to stay. There are plenty of ways to get out and enjoy the season, from winter festivals to outdoor activities like skating, snowshoeing and skiing. Even if you have your favourites, why not try something new this year? 

Winter Festivals
Just about every community in Muskoka has a winter festival, enough to take you through almost until spring!February 14-15 – Dorset SnowballFebruary 14-17 – Gravenhurst Winter CarnivalFebruary 17 – Baysville WinterfestFebruary 22 – Huntsville Snowfest – watch for details about this new event here!February 28-29 – Dwight Winter Carnival

Skating Trails
Arrowhead Provincial Park made it uber-popular, and now skating trails are popping up all over Muskoka. Be sure to check these ones out. (Check the links for conditions and closures due to weather)Arrowhead Provincial Park, north of HuntsvilleJohnston’s Cranberry Marsh in BalaMemorial Park Winter Village in BracebridgeHanna Park Skating Trail in Port Carling 

Snowshoe by Day or by Night
One of the easiest ways to get active outside. Just strap on your snowshoes and go. And you can go just about anywhere, but you’ll find some official trails at the links below.Arrowhead Provincial ParkLimberlost Forest and Wildlife Reserve, east of HuntsvilleFor a nighttime treat, head to the Torrance Barrens Conservation Area, an official Dark Sky Reserve 

Cross-Country Skiing
It’s been practiced for thousands of years, but cross-country skiing didn’t make its way to Canada until the late 1800s. In those days skis were long. Really long-sometimes up to four metres in length. Skiers carried just a single pole. Today’s options are more user-friendly and equally fun. You’ll find trails across Muskoka, including those at the links below.Arrowhead Provincial Park – 46km of trails, some track-set and some skate-set. (Be sure to check out what the Arrowhead Nordic Ski Club has to offer as well.)Bracebridge Resource Management Centre – 16.5km of groomed cross-country ski trails)Limberlost Forest and Wildlife Reserve – more than 35km of cross-country ski trails to explore. Note that none of the trails are track-set.

Downhill Skiing
If you have a need for speed, there’s just one place to go. Hidden Valley Highlands Ski Areaoffers the only official downhill skiing in Muskoka.

Yoga in the Snow
Who says you need to practice yoga indoors? Head into the great outdoors, with or without snowshoes (leave them on for an added challenge), for a few asanas. You could even add a snow angel to your repertoire!There are many other ways to enjoy the snow, of course-build a snowperson, go tobogganing, have a snowball fight, build a fort or try your hand at an igloo, or just watch the white stuff gently drift down. However you choose to enjoy winter, here’s to having fun!

Imagine this: just over 150 years ago early settlers to Muskoka, lured by free land and the promise of a fresh start, arrived to find that the land they had been given was full of rock. A lot of it. Those who tried to clear and ready it for farming found it was back-breaking labour.

Today, some of those properties still remain as farm land, testament to an earlier, harder time and the resilience (or perhaps desperation) of those first European residents. Today, current residents and visitors can still reap the rewards of their efforts—without the work—at local farmers’ markets. Most open for the season this month or next.

At each, you’ll find locally grown produce, meats, preserves, cheeses, and a variety of culinary delights, along with artisans and crafters displaying everything from rustic and fine art to pajamas and quilts.

In addition to supporting local producers and small businesses, shopping at a farmers’ market is good for you and good for the environment. Produce is farm-fresh, often harvested just that morning, and is organic in methods if not in label. It also conserves energy: supermarket produce often travels thousands of kilometres from farm to store. At a farmers’ market, your food was likely produced no more than 100 kilometres away. You also have direct access to the producer, who can tell you exactly how the food was grown, and may surprise you with varieties of fruits and vegetables you didn’t know about before.

And farmers’ markets are just plain fun: you can meet up with friends or make new ones, spend some time people-watching, or just soak up the sun and the atmosphere. There’s a market just about every day of the week somewhere in Muskoka. Check out the list below!

Monday

Bala Farmers’ Market, Jaspen Park on Muskoka Road 38 (1005 Pine Ridge Road). Opens for the season on June 24 and runs every Monday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. until September 2.

Tuesday

Dwight Farmers’ Market, 1009 Dwight Bay Road in Lake of Bays. Opens for the season on Tuesday, June 25 and runs until August 27, every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Wednesday

Gravenhurst Farmers’ Market, in the special events field across from the Muskoka Wharf. Opens for the season on May 15 and runs every Wednesday from 9:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. until October 30.

Thursday

The Huntsville Farmers’ Market has a new location for 2019: the Huntsville Fairgrounds at 407 Ravenscliffe Road. Opens for the season on May 16 and runs every Thursday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. until October 10.

Port Carling Farmers’ Market, Hannah Park, 40 Bailey St. Opens June 27 and runs every Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. until August 29.

Friday

Baysville Farmers’ Market has a new location for 2019: the Season2Season Garden Market, 2849 Muskoka Road 117. Opens for the season on June 28, 2019 and runs every Friday until August 30 from 1-5 p.m.

Rosseau Farmers’ Market at the waterfront park. A free shuttle is available – park anywhere in town! Opens for the season on June 28 at 9:00 a.m.

Saturday

Bracebridge Farmers’ Market, Memorial Park on Manitoba Street (next to the Norwood Theatre). Opens for the season on the Victoria Day long weekend and runs Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. until the Thanksgiving long weekend.

Huntsville 100k Farmers’ Market, West Street S next to Pharmasave. Opens for the season in June and runs every Saturday from 9:00 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Nature isn’t just the beautiful view we get to enjoy living in Muskoka (and sometimes something to rail against…will this winter ever end?). We are part of it, too, and our actions impact it.

That’s why every day is Earth Day in Muskoka. We officially celebrate—and remind ourselves to do better for—this wonderful planet we call home on April 22 each year. This year’s Earth Day theme is ‘Protect Our Species’.

In Muskoka, there’s lots we can do to support that theme. With lots of aquatic species, and many (including us!) that rely on our abundant water sources, it’s wise to do everything we can to protect our waterways.

And did you know that there are also more than 40 species-at-risk in Muskoka? They include birds like the bank swallow and the Eastern meadowlark, reptiles like Blanding’s turtle and common five-lined skink, insects like the monarch butterfly and yellow-banded bumblebee, fish like the lake sturgeon, and mammals like the Eastern wolf.

You can see full list here: http://www.muskokawaterweb.ca/water-101/watersheds1/species-at-risk/muskoka-sar

How can you make a difference? Here are some helpful tips to help protect both local species and those the world over:

• Avoid the use of pesticides to help protect pollinators like bees.
• Be mindful of what you put into the water—including what goes down your drain or into your septic tank. Properly dispose of harmful chemicals.
• Reduce your use of plastic, especially single-use plastics: avoid buying items in plastic packaging whenever possible, say no to plastics like straws and plastic beverage bottles, bring your own reusable shopping bags everywhere, and recycle the plastic you do use.
• Plant a tree or make a donation to plant a tree: yes, we have lots of them in Muskoka, but trees are one of Earth’s best defenses against climate change and deforestation is a problem the world over.
• Eat less meat: the meat industry generates about 20 per cent of man-made greenhouse gas emissions. You don’t have to give up burgers entirely, but adding more veggies to your diet is good for both you and the planet.
• Grow your own produce or join a CSA (community-supported agriculture) program and support local farmers. And remember to reuse (mmm…broth!) or compost your scraps. If you have a garden, don’t forget about the District of Muskoka’s annual compost giveaway, too. Details here: https://www.muskoka.on.ca/en/live-and-play/Earth-Day.aspx
• Buy less, make it last, and repurpose/donate/recycle what you no longer need: the less often you have to replace something, the less stuff that ends up in landfills. When you do need to by, look for sustainably made options.
• Drive less: that can be hard to do in Muskoka where there can be vast distances to cover and limited transit available. Put your pedals or your paddles to work for you and bike, canoe or walk when you can.
• Be thankful to live in Muskoka! What we love, we are more likely to protect. Happy Earth Day!

From the pages of Muskoka Life magazine

by Andrew Hind

The locks at Port Carling are viewed as something of an engineering marvel. Tourists flock here to admire the spectacle of passenger craft and, several times per year, the Segwun, passing through between Lake Muskoka and Lake Rosseau. Yet few people pay much attention to the bridge that spans the locks. 

This bridge, or rather, the succession of bridges that have stood here over the past century and a half, are considerable engineering feats in and of themselves. After all, they’ve had to be designed to allow for even steamships to pass, either by swinging open or lifting up. 

Most people don’t think about this bridge until they are inconvenienced by construction work or maintenance issues. Well, things were even more difficult when settlers first arrived in Muskoka, as the rapids at Port Carling represented a true obstacle to navigation. Passengers and cargo would have to disembark steamships, portage across to Lake Rosseau, and then re-embark again. It was a time-consuming process. A.P. Cockburn, who owned the majority of these vessels and was a Muskoka representative in provincial government, pressed for a navigational lock at Port Carling. His urgings were successful, and construction began in 1869. Difficulties with high water and the need for extensive blasting slowed work considerably so the lock didn’t opened for navigation until November 1871.

The completion of the locks had serious repercussions that should have been obvious to everyone involved, but which no-one seemed to have planned for: the locks left a gap in the Joseph Road that effectively severed east-west traffic. Incredibly, nothing was done to remedy this until 1874, when lobbying by locals finally spurred the government into action. 

Before the locks, passengers disembarking at Port Carling had an adventure merely getting ashore. Vessels could not get up against the shore, so would have to extend a long gangplank. While crew members held down one end, passengers jumped ashore from the others.

At this time, $3,000 was allocated to fund the construction of two bridges, one across the Indian River and the other over the locks. The former, completed by the end of the year, was a fixed structure, 88 feet in length, with a double span supported by a crib in the centre. The latter wasn’t ready until the following year, and with good reason. As a swing bridge, it was a more complex design. 

Around 1914, council petitioned for a new dam, repairs to the locks and wharves, and new bridges to repair the aging existing ones that were now so rotten they were dangerous. Nothing was done as a result of the onset of the First World War, and indeed it wouldn’t be until the winter of 1921-22 that the desperate need for new bridges was addressed. A pair of steel structures were built, 202 feet in total length and set on concrete abutments at a higher elevation than the original.

Traffic throughout Muskoka had increased steadily during the 1960s, and Port Carling was no exception. Weekend and summer traffic led to maddening congestion and delays in the village. To remedy this, there was talk of a bypass around the community – as Gravenhurst and Bracebridge had been bypassed by the new Highway 11 – that would see traffic diverted south of Port Carling and across a high-level bridge over the Indian River. Much to the relief of locals who feared the economic implications of traffic bypassing their village, such plans were shelved in favour of a less costly renovating of Highway 118. 

The swing bridge over the canal at Port Carling is closed in this picture. One of the improvements in the locks over the years was the installation of electric gates to speed up the locking procedure. Lockages that once took as long as 30 minutes are now done in less than 10.

Government engineers decided that traffic would be improved if the streets through Port Carling were raised and realigned to get rid of some of the curves, which meant the demolition of four historic buildings in town. At the same time, the old one-lane bridge would need to be replaced with a new one accommodating two lanes of traffic. It was time, anyways; the bridge’s foundations were crumbling and the iron had deteriorated from the effects of age, weather and road salt. Work began in spring of 1973 and wasn’t completed for two years. 

The grand opening of the new cantilever bridge was set for July 3, 1975. Hundreds of locals and seasonal residents turned out to see the bridge raised for the first time, and Ministry of Transportation officials were on hand to cut the ribbons and bask in the glow of a work well-done – except when the bridge began to rise, the crowd gasped in shock as the asphalt began to slide down like black ooze, right into the pit below containing the machinery. Officials were red-faced, the onlookers a blend of horrified and amused. It would be two more months before the bridge finally opened to traffic. 

This bridge has served Port Carling – indeed, all of Muskoka – ever since. Recent construction work done in spring 2017, while perhaps inconvenient, was important to ensure the continued efficiency of road and marine traffic – the very things that earned the community the title of ‘The Hub of Lakes.’ The bridges and lock have worked together, symbiotic, for almost 150 years to assist in the movement of people and commerce.