About the region
Huntsville and Lake of Bays hold more cottages than all of our northern regions put together. The 2021 Census found 2,397 dwellings without usual residents in Huntsville and 2,564 in Lake of Bays, where they make up 59.3 percent of the housing: 4,961 in all, against 4,722 in the whole of Nipissing District, city included.
Both townships belong to the District of Muskoka, and the District's 2023 Second Home Study describes their owners well. The Golden Horseshoe is the most common permanent home of Muskoka's second-home owners. Forty-eight percent of the seasonal population is 55 or older, 43 percent of second-home households earn over $200,000 a year, 96.7 percent of second homes are on the water, and 11 percent are rented out, for 7.7 weeks a year on average. That is the owner the membership was built for: someone in the city who cannot drive up every time the weather turns.
Dwellings in Huntsville and Lake of Bays, 2021 Census | Municipality | Private dwellings | Without usual residents | Share |
| Huntsville | 11,214 | 2,397 | 21.4% |
| Lake of Bays | 4,324 | 2,564 | 59.3% |
| Total | | 4,961 | |
Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census, table 98-10-0002-01. "Without usual residents" counts private dwellings nobody
lives in as their usual home: mostly cottages in these townships, mostly vacancies in a city.
What we can do from North Bay
Huntsville is about 95 minutes from our base and Dorset about 125, so this is our second ring:
the place for work that is planned, not for a knock on the door every three days. Openings and
closings are the core of it. We book them ahead, group them by lake, and do each one completely
rather than fitting it between other jobs. Storm visits come next: after a wind storm or an ice
storm that brings down trees and power lines, we come down to check, photograph and report. Small
repairs and licensed trades are coordinated on the same trips, each with a written quote first.
What we do not offer here is the routine winter cadence. If your policy wording needs a check every
few days while the heat is on, a Huntsville or Lake of Bays cottage is better served by a drained,
shut-down system for winter, or by someone who lives closer.
Renting in Lake of Bays
Lake of Bays is where our Host tier fits best outside the primary ring. The rule asks a host’s
Responsible Person to reply within the hour and to be at the property within a day, which matches
how we work from North Bay. Host members get the Responsible Person role, guest issues handled and
turnovers coordinated with their cleaners.
Renting in Huntsville
Huntsville is the opposite case. Its rule wants someone at the property within 60 minutes, and
nobody 95 minutes away can promise that honestly. We offer the Host tier in Huntsville only with a
named local partner, and we will not sell it until that partner is in place.
Why Barrie appears on this page
Our base is North Bay from January 2027, and every promise on this page is made from there. We show
drive times from Barrie as well because Barrie is the alternative base if the move north changes.
From Barrie, Huntsville is about an hour and twenty minutes by the usual estimate, which would make
this one of our main regions rather than the edge of the map.
Getting there
Our base is North Bay from January 2027; Barrie is the alternative base if the move north changes.
Every figure is a summer estimate, not live traffic: the typical time is a published third-party estimate where
one exists, otherwise the router figure less 15%, the gap measured on Highway 11. Winter driving takes longer.
From North Bay | To | Typical (estimate) | By router (estimate) | Distance |
| Huntsville | About 1 h 35 min published third-party estimate | 1 h 51 min | 128 km |
| Dwight | About 1 h 50 min router figure less 15% | 2 h 9 min | 147 km |
| Baysville | About 1 h 57 min router figure less 15% | 2 h 18 min | 153 km |
| Dorset | About 2 h 5 min router figure less 15% | 2 h 27 min | 165 km |
From Barrie | To | Typical (estimate) | By router (estimate) | Distance |
| Huntsville | About 1 hour 20 minutes typical | 1 h 41 min | 124 km |
| Lake of Bays (Dwight, Baysville, Dorset) | About 2 hours by router | Not measured |
Short-term-rental rules here
These two townships sit side by side with the strictest and the most workable rules we deal with. Huntsville's By-law 2025-19 wants an owner or agent who can be reached within 30 minutes and be on site within 60. It also caps licences at 250, asks for a year of ownership before a licence, bans rentals in the UR1 precinct, and makes boat-access hosts keep a boat so the property can be reached in the hour (Town of Huntsville). From North Bay that hour is out of reach: Huntsville is about 95 minutes away. We take the Host role in Huntsville only with a named local partner who lives within the hour, and that partner is not named yet.
Lake of Bays asks for something different: a reply within 60 minutes and someone at the property within 24 hours of being notified (Township of Lake of Bays). A day is ample from North Bay, so Lake of Bays hosts can name us as their Responsible Person on the Host tier. The township's 2026 fees are $1,000 to apply and $900 to renew, as reported, not yet confirmed from the by-law text, and the township asks for 45 days to process an application through Cloudpermit.
