Rock Lake (Algonquin Park)

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Rock Lake
RockLake.jpg
Looking south from Picto Bay
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Rock Lake
Location of Rock Lake in Southern Ontario
Location Haliburton County, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates 45°50′00″N78°40′00″W / 45.83333°N 78.66667°W / 45.83333; -78.66667
Primary inflows Madawaska River

South Madawaska River Louisa Creek

Rock Creek
Primary outflows Madawaska River
Surface area5 km2 (1.9 sq mi) [1]
Average depth7.9 m (26 ft) [1]
Max. depth34.7 m (114 ft) [1]
Surface elevation391 m (1,283 ft) [2]
Islands Rose I., Jean I., Third I.

Rock Lake is a lake located in Algonquin Provincial Park in Haliburton County, Ontario, Canada. [1]

Rock Lake features a campground with 121 sites at the north end of the lake, which is accessible from Highway 60 via a gravel road. [3] Algonquin Park also maintains about 20 designated campsites around the lake that are accessible by boat as well as several portages to neighbouring lakes. [4] The lake is popular with canoeists and kayakers. Motorboats are permitted with a limit of 20 horsepower. About 20 cottages on long-term leases are found on the shores of Rock Lake. [5] The 5 km Booth's Rock hiking trail overlooks the Lake. [6] The Madawaska River flows into Rock Lake from the north and out of it in the southeast. The South Madawaska River enters Rock Lake from a long bay in the southwest.

History

As part of the Ottawa River watershed, Rock Lake lies in the traditional territory of the Algonquin people. [7] Pictographs, [8] [9] petroglyphs [10] and archaeological evidence [10] [11] all bear witness to early activity on and near its shores. There is historical and archeological evidence of indigenous farming at Rock Lake in the 1870s. [12]

Logging in the area began in the mid-1800s. [13] In the winter of 1891-1892 a survey party plotted a railway route along the east shore of Rock Lake. In 1896, the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway was completed by J.R. Booth. [14] Rock Lake Station, including a water pump and tower, was built near the north shore of the lake where the rail line crossed Rock Creek. [15] While the main impetus for the rail line was the transportation of lumber and grain, [16] from early on, it also served to bring passengers to the area for recreation, particularly after the construction of the Highland Inn and other lodges in Algonquin Park in 1908.

The railway owned 30 acres of land in the vicinity of the station, [17] and by 1910, there were several buildings, including the station building, section house, a grocery store and several homes. From 1927 to 1935, a small school operated in the settlement. [18]

A commercial hotel was never built on Rock Lake along the lines of those on Cache Lake, Lake of Two Rivers or Smoke Lake, [19] but family members of J.R. Booth did build a substantial summer home on a point on the east shore. Named Men-Wah-Tay lodge by its owners, referred to in Algonquin Park literature as the Barclay Estate, [20] it was designed by John W.H. Watts and completed by 1900. [21] [22] The estate was initially owned by Booth's daughter, Helen Gertrude, and her husband Andrew Fleck and sold in 1935 to Helen's daughter Jean Barclay. The main house was expanded, and tennis courts and a large boathouse were added. The estate had its own railway siding and station. [23]

In 1911, Algonquin Park was expanded to include Nightingale Township and thus Rock Lake. [24] This did not result in many immediate changes. Most buildings comprising the Rock Lake Station community were on railway lands, which were not turned over to the park until 1915. [25] Tourists had already been coming for camping and fishing since the railway opened, and logging in the area continued much as it had before it was incorporated into the park.

As part of efforts to promote tourism in Algonquin Park, leases were offered for fishing camps and summer cottages. Around Rock Lake, new leases were granted from the early 1920s up until 1954. At their peak in the late 1950s, there were about 40 cottages.

In the early 1930s, train service to Rock Lake became less frequent, finally ending around 1945. [26] In 1937, Highway 60 was completed through Algonquin Park, though the road connecting Rock Lake to the highway was not built until 1946.

The public campground was opened shortly after road access was established and expanded in 1955, after numerous cottages were demolished. The Barclay Estate was demolished the same year.

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 "BRMB Maps | Canada's Best Backcountry Navigation Tool". brmbmaps.com. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  2. ↑ "Map of Algonquin Park - Working Version 2022". Algonquin & Beyond. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  3. ↑ "Rock Lake Campground | Algonquin Provincial Park | The Friends of Algonquin Park". www.algonquinpark.on.ca. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  4. ↑ "Official Algonquin Park Canoe Routes Map Online | Algonquin Provincial Park | The Friends of Algonquin Park". www.algonquinpark.on.ca. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  5. ↑ Clemson, Gaye I. (2005). Rock Lake Station. Trafford Publishing. p. 108. ISBN   978-1412066266.
  6. ↑ "Booth's Rock Trail | Algonquin Provincial Park | The Friends of Algonquin Park". www.algonquinpark.on.ca. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  7. ↑ Luckasavitch, Christine. ""A Brief History of the Madaoueskarini Algonquin People"". MuskokaRegion.com. Metroland Media Group Ltd. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  8. ↑ Allen, William A; Brady, Liam M; Decontie, Peter (2008). Manaadjiyindj iyaa manidoo nayaagadjitoodj kije-asin mazinaakobiihiganan Honouring the Spirits of Sacred Pictographs. Preserving Aboriginal Heritage: Technical and Traditional Approaches. Ottawa, Canada: Canadian Conservation Institute. ISBN   978-0-660-63977-2 . Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  9. ↑ Conway, Thor (2016). Discovering Rock Art - A Personal Journey with Tribal Elders. ISBN   978-0993826702.
  10. 1 2 Noble, W. C. (1968). Vision Pits, Cairns and Petroglyphs at Rock Lake, Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario. Ontario Archaeology, 11, 47-64.
  11. ↑ Kidd, Kenneth E. (1948). "A Prehistoric Camp Site at Rock Lake, Algonquin Park, Ontario" . Southwestern Journal of Anthropology. 4 (1): 98–106. doi:10.1086/soutjanth.4.1.3628476. ISSN   0038-4801. S2CID   163811615.
  12. ↑ Allen, Bill (2007). "Nineteenth Century Aboriginal Farmers of the Madawaska River" (PDF). Partners to the Past: Making Connections in the Ottawa River Valley. The Ottawa Chapter of the Ontario Archaeological Society. pp. 56–75. Retrieved Nov 26, 2025.
  13. ↑ "Why We're Here". Algonquin Forestry Authority. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  14. ↑ Lavallee, Omer (June 1964). "Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound" (PDF). Canadian Rail: 131–136. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  15. ↑ Clemson, p. 128.
  16. ↑ Lavalee, p. 135.
  17. ↑ Clemson, p. 13.
  18. ↑ "Algonquin Highlands Heritage Map" . Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  19. ↑ Clemson, Gaye. "Episode 8: The Grand Trunk's Long Lost Algonquin Railway Hotels". PodBean. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  20. ↑ "Booth's Rock Trail | Algonquin Provincial Park | The Friends of Algonquin Park". www.algonquinpark.on.ca. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  21. ↑ "John William Hurrell Watts fonds: Finding Aid". National Gallery of Canada: Library and Archives. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  22. ↑ "Men-Wah-Tay Lodge Rock Lake O.&P.S. Railway". The Canadian Architect and Builder. 13 (1): XI. Jan 1900.
  23. ↑ Joyce, Catherine. "Low Down Articles In the Hills". Gatineau Valley Historical Society. Gatineau Valley Historical Society. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  24. ↑ Huitema, Marijke. "Historical Algonquin Occupancy Algonquin Park Report". StudyLib. p. 3. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  25. ↑ Clemson, p. 27.
  26. ↑ Clemson, p. 82.
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