Stoney Lake
Beautiful and big Stoney Lake (also known as Stony Lake) is located about 2 hours north/east of Toronto in Peterborough County. The lake is about 32 kilometers long and 768 ft above sea level encompassing over 1,000 islands. This Lake is as far as you can get north on the Trent Severn waterway. There are three interconnected lakes that form what we knows as Stoney Lake. Upper Stoney Lake to the northeast, Stony Lake in the centre, and Clear Lake to the southwest which together are known as Stony or Stoney Lake. It is primarily a summer cottage area but there are many permanent residences on the lakes and that number is growing.
There are some beautiful old family cottages that have been in the family for many many years. A boat trip will reveal many modern designs that have started popping up all over the lake, it is quite interesting to see the diversity around the lake. If you are hungry you can enjoy several different boat friendly restaurants around the lake and several marinas to fuel up.
Some History
Stoney Lake was known to early European settlers as Salmon Trout Lake, but the modern name is fully appropriate. Salmon trout are no longer evident, but islands and shoals are everywhere. Today, Stoney Lake represents the classic Ontario ‘cottage country’, enjoyed by its many seasonal residents, by an increasing number of year-round residents, by boaters using the Trent-Severn Waterway, sport fishermen and many others.
Fish Species you may find in this lake include smallmouth and largemouth bass, walleye (Pickerel) and muskellunge (Musky).
Like most lakes in Ontario, Stony Lake was created during and after the last ice age. The lake straddles the border between the Canadian Shield and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands landforms. The lake is influenced both by the rugged granite of the Canadian Shield to the north, and by the more gentle, heavily forested Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands to the south.
The region has been inhabited for thousands of years. Early First Nations settlement is evidenced by a remarkable collection of prehistoric rock carvings to be seen at the east end of Stony Lake in Petroglyphs Provincial Park. On-going historic research argues that Samuel De Champlain traveled through the area’s lakes, rivers and overland portages in the 17th century. The First Nations were joined in the 19th century by European settlers intent on logging and farming. In the mid-19th century logging became a large industry in the Kawarthas and Stony Lake was used as part of the highway for moving logs to the sawmills downriver. The Trent-Severn Canal system was built early in the 20th century and became the dominant commercial waterway in the region.
The American Canoe Association met on Juniper Island in 1883, and development evolved naturally from travelers fishing or hunting from simple lodges. Lengthier camping expeditions on the many islands became common. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, many people from Ontario and the bordering U.S. states bought Crown land and built cottages. These were generally simple, one-story frame structures with few amenities. As well, those early settlers, at Young’s Point, Kawartha Park, McCracken’s Landing, Mount Julian and others around the lake, found new sources of income by helping cottagers in many ways: ice cutting, building, guiding, boat repairs and domestic chores. Stony Lake today is principally used for recreational purposes. Some of the large islands include Juniper and Horseshoe Island. (Sourced from Wikipedia)
Motorboat friendly lake
Cottage Association – Association Stony Lake Cottagers – https://www.aslcmembers.ca/