MUSKOKA DELIGHTS
From landscape to skyscape and even the beauty of Bala’s cranberry harvest, Muskoka has much to offer,
Lookout Tower of Dorset
If the main reason you drive to Muskoka is to feast your city-weary eyes on nature’s dazzling display of colour, you can top it off with a visit to the scenic Lookout Tower of Dorset, which straddles the districts of Muskoka and Haliburton.
The 48-year-old tower offers a panoramic view of Lake of Bays, from two stairs-accessible platforms, one at 30 metres, the other at 142 metres. Climbing is free. The site offers picnic facilities, gift shop and information centre and a 2.5-kilometre marked trail around the tower. You can pay to park a car ($6) on site or park for free at the town’s Main St. baseball diamond and walk (20 to 30 minutes).
Muskoka Boat & Heritage Centre and Muskoka Lakes Museum
Boats and boatbuilding were essential to opening up this lake-laden part of Ontario. Early settlers needed them for the transport of goods and services and they were essential to the other industry, which brought money and jobs: tourism. The early resorts introduced thousands to the area and sparked the idea for summer homes or cottages. Both the Muskoka Boat & Heritage Centre in Gravenhurst and Port Carling’s Muskoka Lakes Museum offer tantalizing glimpses into this Muskoka of yesteryear with a variety of artifacts, exhibits and displays geared to interest all age groups.
Huckleberry Rock Lookout Trail
Oh, you’ll find some thrills on Huckleberry hill (apologies to Fats Domino).
At the main lookout point on the 2.5-kilometre trail, the spectacular vista spreads out like a luscious picnic feast: Lake Muskoka’s blue waters, pine-topped shorelines, dolllike cottages, wee boats leaving watery wakes. The marked trail through woods and over rock is moderate in difficulty. Looking downward is as gratifying as looking up — the exposed pink and grey granite, etched by glaciers, is among the oldest rock in the world.
Cranberry craze
There’s beauty in the bogs near Bala, the cranberry capital of Ontario, about190 kilometres north of Toronto. The town hosts an annual cranberry festival, this weekend. Johnston’s Cranberry Farm, a family-run operation, remains open yearround. There’s no charge to walk on the various marked trails loaded with information. You may see wildlife, such as herons, frogs and turtles.
Torrance Barrens
Dark-Sky Preserve Although Muskoka’s fabulous fall landscape draws droves of leaf-peepers, there’s another spectacle overhead from a little known vantage point. The Torrance Barrens Dark-Sky Preserve, a two-hour drive north of Toronto, is considered by experts such as the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada to be one of the best sites to observe the night sky.
The ancient rock is immune to vibrations, ideal for portable telescopes, its remoteness ensuring no urban light pollution and a magnificent view of the starry sky.