Popular with cottagers, Huntsville sits about 225 km north of Toronto and is the biggest town in Muskoka and the main gateway to Algonquin Provincial Park, about 45 km east. About 21,000 people live in the town, spread across a large area of lakes and forest.
It is classic Ontario cottage country. Main Street has murals, shops and restaurants, and lakes like Fairy and Vernon sit at the edge of town. Visitors canoe and kayak, hike at Arrowhead Provincial Park, ride the steam train at Muskoka Heritage Place, ski at Hidden Valley, and drive the fall colours in late September. Crime is low. The cost is housing, which is pricey, with rentals scarce because of the cottage economy and waterfront costing far more. Winters are cold and snowy, summer weekends bring heavy traffic on Highway 11, and there are black bears, ticks and blackflies to plan for.
Cities with a similar character, anywhere on the site.
Out of 10. Open any score to see how it’s worked out. “Data-based” scores come from published figures; “Hey! En Route estimate” scores are worked out from what we know about the city; “Hey! En Route rating” scores were set by our editors.
- Known as
- Gateway to Algonquin Park; Muskoka's largest town by area; Town of Huntsville; Muskoka lakes cottage country; Group of Seven and Tom Thomson trail area; host of the 2010 G8 Summit at Deerhurst
- Founded
- 1869 settled by George Hunt (recalled as Hunt's Bay area settlement); 1886 incorporated as a town; municipal amalgamation of surrounding townships later
- Languages
- English (de facto working language of Ontario); French services available federally and in some offices but not widely spoken locally; French minority; small immigrant communities; seasonal visitors from the GTA speak many languages
- Airports
- Muskoka Airport (YQA) in Gravenhurst, about 50 km south, seasonal or limited regular service and general aviation; Toronto Pearson (YYZ), about 225 km south (about 2.5-3 hours by car); Toronto Billy Bishop (YTZ), about 215 km; North Bay Jack Garland (YYB), about 130 km north; Ontario Northland and Kasper shuttle services link Toronto and Huntsville
- Tipping
- Restaurants 15-20% of the pre-tax bill (HST 13% is added on top of listed prices); bars $1-2 per drink or 15-20% of tab; taxis and rideshare 10-15%; hotel housekeeping $3-5 CAD per night; bellhops $2-5 CAD per bag; tour guides 10-15%; counter service optional (all amounts CAD; Ontario HST is 13% on top of listed prices)
About this data
Population 21,147 (2021 Census) and land area 705.18 sq km are from Wikipedia (fetched); the founding dates (1869, 1886) also from Wikipedia. Huntsville is not a CMA or census agglomeration, so population_metro equals the town population (21,147) per instructions. Elevation about 310 m and coordinates are approximate (recalled). visitor_website is the regional Discover Muskoka site (recalled, not confirmed by page fetch), and event_calendar is a Town of Huntsville events page recalled from the town's site pattern and unconfirmed; treat both as unconfirmed. Event names and months, hotel ranges, cost of living, crime index, rent, prices, distances and airport drive times are approximate or from general knowledge and not verified. All money in CAD.
