It would be easy to assume that Lake Muskoka was part of the Trent-Severn Waterway. In fact, during the heyday of Canadian canal building, there were tentative plans to connect Lake Muskoka to Lake Couchiching (and thus Lake Simcoe). However, in the end, the focus on the southern part of the lake remained on the rail lines, and the canal builders went west towards Lake Huron instead. Bala was connected to Potter’s Landing (both the Bala Falls and the Haunted Narrows were preserved during construction), and the New Cut was made to allow for the passage of lumber ships. These ships would travel as far as the port of Goderich, where lumber would be transferred onto the much larger tankers that comprise the bulk of the Saint Lawrence Seaway traffic.

Local business magnate Murray Callaghan owns the title to the Trent-Severn (having avoided a government buyout when his marriage essentially tripled his capital), as well as substantial land and logging rights on Lake Muskoka itself. His two youngest children, both already active in the business, stand to inherit everything, though it remains to be seen if they will separate the two businesses to form their own empires.