Who gets to decide how the lake will develop? The cottagers on Muldrew Lakes are seeing first-hand that finding a balance can turn ugly

Who gets to decide how the lake will develop? The cottagers on Muldrew Lakes are seeing first-hand how hard it can be to balance individual and community rights

PHILIP PREVILLE

THIS IS A story about Muldrew Lakes, so let’s start by setting the scene. Like every cottage lake, including yours, Muldrew is perfect: rustic cottages amid picturesque shores and forests. But Muldrew is also very different from your lake. Even a brief visit there gives rise to a flurry of unfamiliar and contradictory emotions that your lake probably doesn’t provoke. Muldrew Lakes—North, Middle, and South Muldrew—are actually just one long, s-shaped lake located 200 kilometres due north of Toronto, just outside of Gravenhurst, in Muskoka. It meanders through what must be one of the longest, narrowest gouges ever laid down by a passing glacier, about 15 kilometres, making two, full 180-degree turns before slowly emptying into Muldrew Creek. At first glance you’d think, This isn’t a lake, it’s just one…

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Cottage Life (Digital) - 1 Issue, March/April 2025

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