Lake of Bays
Big water, clear and clean, with 167 kilometres of shoreline to explore. One of Muskoka's finest lakes — and one of its most welcoming communities.
68 km²
Surface Area
167 km
Shoreline
22 m avg
Depth
70 m+
Max Depth
Lake of Bays doesn't need much of a sales pitch. Get out on the water on a calm morning, when it's glass all the way across and the shoreline is nothing but granite and pine, and you understand the appeal well enough without me explaining it.
I've sold a lot of cottages here over the years. What I notice is how quickly people make up their minds. They come up to look at three or four places, no pressure, just seeing what's out there, and by Sunday they're arguing about which bay they'd want and whether the dock needs another ten feet.
Size is a lot of it. Sixty-eight square kilometres is real water. You can ski, sail, or take the boat out for the afternoon and not be in anyone's way. But the shoreline is so cut up with points and deep bays and islands that you're never far from somewhere quiet either. Families tend to like having both.
The practical side matters more than people admit when they're standing on a dock in July. Huntsville is close enough for groceries, dinner out, and the hardware run you didn't plan on. Dorset, Dwight and Baysville each have their own feel, and most owners end up loyal to one of them without quite deciding to.
The cottagers' association is worth mentioning too. People here look after the lake, and they've been doing the water quality monitoring long enough that it's just what you do. Year-rounders and seasonal folks both. It's a friendly lake without making a production of it.
If you're looking for a lake that gives you the full Muskoka cottage lifestyle — big water, beautiful shorelines, strong community, and easy access to town — Lake of Bays is hard to beat. It's a lake people don't just visit. They settle into it.
The Numbers Behind the Lake
Lake of Bays is big water by any cottage-country standard, roughly 6,780 hectares (about 68 km²) with an average depth around 22 metres and pockets that drop to roughly 70 metres or more. What really surprises most people is how much shoreline it packs in: about 167 km of bays, points, and stretches of rugged edge that keep the lake feeling endlessly explorable.
Hydrologically, most of the lake's inflow comes from the Oxtongue and Hollow Rivers. Upstream, flows on the Oxtongue are influenced by the Tea Lake Dam, while the lake's level itself is managed at Baysville through the broader Muskoka River Water Management Plan. In plain English: water levels aren't random, there's an operating framework behind what you see at the dock from season to season.
Lake of Bays — From Working Landscape to Cottage Country
Before there were cottages, marinas, or even proper roads, Lake of Bays was already a working landscape with travel routes, hunting grounds, fishing waters, and seasonal camps used by Indigenous peoples, including Anishinaabeg communities in this broader Muskoka–Algonquin corridor, as outlined by the Ontario Heritage Trust.
When settlement started to push north in the late 1800s, it wasn't because someone "found" the lake, it was because more people finally had a way to reach it. With roads improving and rail service reaching the region in the 1870s, families began establishing roots in places like Dorset and Baysville. From there, Lake of Bays slowly shifted from "hard country" to a place people returned to on purpose, first for seasonal work and escape, and eventually for vacations and cottage life.
By the early 1900s, the lake had started building the reputation it still has today: big water, wild edges, and a feeling that you're close to something bigger than just a weekend away.
Tom Thomson & the Group of Seven Connection
That's part of why the Lake of Bays – Huntsville – Algonquin area shows up so often in Canada's art story. Tom Thomson is the name that gets mentioned most, and for good reason. Huntsville has leaned into that heritage in a very local way with a bronze Tom Thomson statue in Civic Square near the Algonquin Theatre, as highlighted in Destination Ontario's guide to Huntsville and the Group of Seven. On the Lake of Bays side, the township has the Tom Thomson Parkway and has hosted public art installations along it, documented by the Township of Lake of Bays.
What Brings People to Lake of Bays
Boating & Watersports
At 68 km², there's room to really move. Whether it's a morning cruise, waterskiing, wakeboarding, or simply anchoring in a quiet bay with nowhere to be, the lake earns its reputation as big water.
Fishing
Lake of Bays is taken seriously by anglers. Lake trout, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, and whitefish are all present. The deep water and healthy lake ecology make for consistent, quality fishing throughout the season.
Paddling & Exploration
The 167 km of shoreline, with bays, channels, islands, and inlets, keeps paddlers busy for years. The Oxtongue River corridor heading toward Algonquin is a favourite for canoe tripping, with access points close to Dwight.
Hiking, Skiing & Limberlost
Limberlost Reserve is one of the real gems close to the lake, with well-maintained trails through old-growth forest that work in every season, including groomed cross-country ski trails in winter. Algonquin Provincial Park is less than an hour away, and there are strong local trail systems throughout the Huntsville and Lake of Bays area for all ability levels.
Local Communities
Huntsville offers full services, restaurants, and a vibrant arts scene. Dorset, Dwight, and Baysville each have their own character with hardware stores, bakeries, marinas, and the kind of local knowledge that only comes from people who've been there for generations.
Winter & Four Seasons
Lake of Bays is increasingly a four-season destination. Cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, ice fishing, and skating are all part of the winter picture, and the communities around the lake stay active well past Labour Day.
Lake of Bays Waterfront Market
Lake of Bays sits alongside Lake Joseph, Lake Rosseau and Lake Muskoka as one of Muskoka's core lakes, and it has behaved distinctively through the current correction. The useful thing to understand is that price and volume have moved separately here.
Prices have repriced in an orderly way. Sellers have taken between 93% and 95% of asking in every year since 2022, with only two or three properties a year selling above list. That's a calm market, not a distressed one.
Volume is the other story. Sixty-nine waterfront cottages changed hands here in 2020. Twenty-one did in 2025. Anyone being told this lake has been immune to the correction is being told something the sold record doesn't support.
| Year | Sales | Median Price | Average Price | Lowest | Highest | Sale-to-List | Over Asking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 69 | $1,600,000 | $1,677,083 | $495,000 | $3,750,000 | 97.2% | 15 |
| 2021 | 47 | $1,700,000 | $2,121,518 | $375,000 | $7,117,093 | 104.7% | 21 |
| 2022 | 30 | $1,513,011 | $2,163,167 | $700,000 | $8,700,000 | 94.5% | 6 |
| 2023 | 29 | $2,650,000 | $2,843,824 | $395,000 | $6,553,000 | 94.7% | 2 |
| 2024 | 37 | $2,035,000 | $2,436,214 | $715,000 | $6,650,000 | 93.3% | 3 |
| 2025 | 21 | $1,507,000 | $2,147,429 | $449,000 | $5,375,000 | 94.0% | 3 |
| 2026 (partial year) | 16 | $1,665,000 | $2,181,938 | $507,000 | $4,500,000 | 94.6% | 3 |
The median swings between $1.5M and $2.65M across these years and almost none of that is the market repricing. It's mix. Lake of Bays spans everything from a modest Baysville cottage to an eight-figure estate, and in a year with thirty sales a handful of big ones drags the middle. Read volume and sale-to-list for direction. These figures reflect MLS®-listed sales only; private and exclusive listings never enter the MLS® system and are not captured, which is not uncommon at the top of the market.
Lake of Bays, Asked and Answered
How big is Lake of Bays?
About 6,780 hectares, or roughly 68 square kilometres, with something like 167 km of shoreline. Average depth is around 22 metres and parts of it go past 70.
What communities are on the lake?
Baysville at the south end, Dwight at the north, Dorset to the east, and Port Cunnington and Bigwin Island in between. Huntsville is the nearest town with full services, about twenty minutes from the north end.
What's the fishing like?
Lake trout, smallmouth and largemouth bass, and whitefish. The deep cold water is what makes the trout fishing worth taking seriously here, which isn't true of every lake in the district.
Are the water levels managed?
Yes. Most of the water comes in from the Oxtongue and Hollow Rivers, and the level is controlled at the Baysville dam under the Muskoka River Water Management Plan. Worth knowing if you're looking at a shoreline or a boathouse in one particular week and wondering whether what you're seeing is normal.
Is Lake of Bays holding its value?
Price and volume have gone different ways. Sellers have been getting 93% to 95% of asking every year since 2022, which is an orderly market. But sales dropped from 69 in 2020 to 21 in 2025. Fewer buyers, not panic pricing. The full annual record is in the table above.
Thinking About Lake of Bays?
Our home turf is Muskoka and Parry Sound. We live and paddle here, and we know these lakes well. If you're considering a move in cottage country, give us a call.