27 researched places across 7 pockets — restaurants, shops, schools and parks.
A fine-dining room perched over Bracebridge Falls, serving locally sourced seasonal plates — Muskoka potatoes, cranberries and honey — with a view of the cascade.
Local pick: Fine dining over Bracebridge Falls
A downtown Bracebridge restaurant voted 'Best Fine Dining in Muskoka' — a refined, ingredient-driven menu for food lovers in the heart of town.
Local pick: Voted best fine dining in Muskoka
A beloved Manitoba Street café famous for its butter tarts, breakfasts and sandwiches — a Bracebridge institution and a Muskoka must-stop.
Local pick: The famous butter tarts
A relaxed restaurant at the Muskoka Wharf with Lake Muskoka views — pub favourites and seafood, and 14 taps pouring mostly Ontario craft beer.
Local pick: Lake views and local taps
A tea room at the Muskoka Wharf serving Muskoka's best high tea — sandwiches, scones and desserts — looking out over Lake Muskoka and the steamships.
Local pick: High tea over the steamships
A long-running Huntsville favourite with log-cabin walls and a glowing fireplace — a creative, locally minded menu served lunch and dinner seven days a week.
Local pick: A Muskoka must-eat
A small, family-owned Italian restaurant by the lights in downtown Huntsville — always busy, with hearty pasta and classic Italian cooking.
Local pick: Busy family-run Italian
A Bala institution at Portage Landing on the Bala Falls since 1947 — famous for the original Don's scones, butter tarts, Chelsea buns and fresh-daily pies.
Local pick: The original Don's scones
Bracebridge's Manitoba Street downtown — heritage storefronts, boutiques, cafés and galleries above the falls in the 'Heart of Muskoka'.
Local pick: Shops above the falls
Gravenhurst's lakefront destination — boardwalk shops, the Wharf farmers' market, restaurants and the home port of the Muskoka steamships on Lake Muskoka.
Local pick: The waterfront market and shops
Huntsville's Main Street downtown — boutiques, outfitters, cafés and the Group of Seven outdoor murals along the river in Muskoka's largest town.
Local pick: Muskoka's liveliest main street
Port Carling's village shops between Lake Muskoka and Lake Rosseau — boutiques, galleries and outfitters by the locks in the 'Hub of the Lakes'.
Local pick: Boutiques by the locks
Bala's village shops between Lakes Muskoka and Rosseau — art galleries, local makers and cafés in the 'Cranberry Capital of Ontario'.
Local pick: Galleries and the cranberry country
The general store, café and village essentials of Port Sydney on Mary Lake — the everyday centre of this small Muskoka village south of Huntsville.
Local pick: Village essentials by Mary Lake
MacTier's general store, LCBO and village essentials — the everyday hub of this small rail-and-lake village in south-west Muskoka.
Local pick: The general store and essentials
A Trillium Lakelands DSB public secondary school (grades 9–12) serving Bracebridge and the Muskoka Lakes, with the Rene M. Caisse Theatre and rec complex on site.
Local pick: The Bracebridge high school
A Trillium Lakelands DSB public secondary school in Gravenhurst, serving the town and the south-Muskoka communities.
Local pick: Gravenhurst's public high school
A Trillium Lakelands DSB public secondary school in Huntsville, serving Muskoka's largest town and the surrounding lakes and Algonquin gateway.
Local pick: Huntsville's public high school
A Trillium Lakelands DSB public elementary school serving MacTier and the small lake communities of south-west Muskoka.
Local pick: The MacTier elementary school
Bracebridge's downtown waterfall on the Muskoka River — a roaring cascade with riverside parkland and trails right in the centre of town.
Local pick: The falls in the heart of town
The RMS Segwun — North America's oldest operating steamship — and the Wenonah II cruise Lake Muskoka from the Gravenhurst Wharf, including sunset dinner cruises.
Local pick: North America's oldest steamship
A provincial park ten minutes north of Huntsville — three sand beaches, 15 km of trails to Stubb's Falls, paddling in summer and the famous skating ice trail in winter.
Local pick: Beaches, falls and the ice trail
The historic Port Carling locks on the Indian River between Lake Muskoka and Lake Rosseau — a waterfront park where you can watch the classic boats lock through.
Local pick: Boats through the historic locks
Bala's twin waterfalls where Lake Muskoka spills into the Moon River — a village landmark beside Don's Bakery and the Kee to Bala music hall.
Local pick: The falls between the lakes
The world's first permanent dark-sky reserve near Bala — 1,990 hectares of Precambrian bedrock and wetland with marked trails and unmatched stargazing.
Local pick: The world's first dark-sky reserve
A sandy village beach on the south end of Mary Lake in Port Sydney — shallow, buoyed swimming protected by the L-shaped pier, with a boat launch and the river falls nearby.
Local pick: A sandy beach on Mary Lake
A non-operating provincial park west of Gravenhurst near MacTier — 15 km of quiet trails and boardwalks across Hardy Lake to a pretty rocky island lookout.
Local pick: Boardwalk trails to a rocky island