Over the course of my career as a travel writer, I’ve had the good fortune to become intimately familiar with Muskoka’s resorts and to write numerous articles highlighting their appeals. That made it a particular thrill for me to pen my laatest book, Timeless Hospitality: Historic Resorts of Muskoka (Dundurn Press).
Tourism is one of Muskoka’s defining industries, with 3.2 million visitors annually. Many stay at a resort, without realizing that they are carrying on a tradition dating back more than 150 years.

When Muskoka was originally opened to settlement in the 1860s, a flood of land hungry people swept into the region, eager to transform forest into farm. But the promise that arable soil lay under the roots of the towering trees was a broken one. Most settlers struggled. Muskoka simply wasn’t suitable for agriculture.
Farmers would open their doors to anglers and hunters from southern Ontario and the United States, offering room and board in exchange for payment. These boarders would return home, singing the praises of Muskoka’s splendor. Soon enough, sportsmen would request to bring their families and the demand soared. Property owners realized they could make far more money hosting tourists than they ever could by tilling the soil and began to build true resorts on their lakeside farms. Muskoka, as a tourist destination, was born.

Perhaps as many as one hundred summer resorts, inns, and boarding houses might have been in operation at any one time.

Most of these properties have long since vanished, and some have been almost completely forgotten. A handful of these historic resorts still exist, much altered but nonetheless carrying on a proud legacy of hospitality. These resorts ensure that Muskoka remains at the forefront of any list of Canada’s vacation destinations.

Muskoka’s resorts aren’t just places to stay. They are cultural symbols that continue to define what people imagine when they think of ‘cottage country’.

Timeless Hospitality seeks to preserve the history, the personality, and the special stories of a selection of Muskoka’s resorts. Some names you’ll be familiar with. Deerhurst Resort remains iconic even after more than 125 years, and JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka Resort has cultivated a reputation for opulence as the successor of the family-run Paignton House. Others are smaller, less famed, more intimate – Sherwood Inn and PK Lodge come to mind. And you’ll be introduced to others that are long gone, surviving only in memories and leaf-eared photographs.

On a personal level, I can unreservedly say that visits to Muskoka’s resorts have shaped my young daughter – broadening her horizons, shaping her perspectives, offering entertainment, yes, but also values and insight. Staff become friends. Shared memories bind our family together.

Muskoka’s resorts aren’t just buildings. They never have been. They’re memory makers and memory keepers.

I hope Timeless Hospitality: Muskoka’s Historic Resorts does the same.