Lake Rosseau

Lake Rosseau combines water recreation with established waterfront communities. Visitors can swim, picnic or launch a boat at Rosseau Waterfront Park, explore Windermere’s historic waterfront, or travel by water toward Port Carling and its shops and heritage attractions. These village destinations give Lake Rosseau a more community-connected recreational character than many smaller cottage lakes (Seguin Township, n.d.; Township of Muskoka Lakes, n.d.-b).

Connectivity is one of Lake Rosseau’s defining features. Public boat access is available at locations including Port Carling and Skeleton Bay, while municipal docks are also available at Windermere and other points around the lake. Boaters can travel south through the Port Carling navigation locks into Lake Muskoka and west into Lake Joseph through Port Sandfield and the Joseph River, without removing the boat from the water (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, 2018; Township of Muskoka Lakes, n.d.-a).

Lake Rosseau supports lake trout, lake whitefish, cisco, walleye, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, muskellunge, northern pike, burbot and black crappie. The MNR identifies it as one of the largest and best lake-trout lakes in the Parry Sound District, with natural lake-trout reproduction and a substantial fishery. Its fish community is described as intermediate between Lake Joseph, which is more strongly associated with lake trout, and Lake Muskoka, which has larger walleye and pike populations (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, 2018).

Rosseau Waterfront Park provides one of the lake’s main public swimming areas. The park includes a sandy beach, swim raft, dock, picnic tables, playground equipment, washrooms and a paved boat launch, creating a public swimming destination directly beside the Village of Rosseau (Seguin Township, n.d.).