Vaughan to Bracebridge: the Muskoka town with a waterfall in the middle

Bracebridge, halfway up Muskoka

Bracebridge sits where the Muskoka River drops over a waterfall in the centre of town — the falls are at the bottom of the main street, with the town hall above them and the bay below — and it is the Muskoka town that families with children under ten drive to, because Santa's Village is on its river and the falls trails are short. It is also the region's brewery town, the halfway point of Highway 11 between Gravenhurst and Huntsville, and the gateway to the Muskoka River lakes — Lake Muskoka's north end, the Muskoka River's chain — where the cottage transfers go. For Vaughan it is the shortest proper Muskoka day, and the one grandparents come on.

Santa's Village

Santa's Village is a summer theme park on the Muskoka River west of the town: a family park for the two-to-ten range with a small roller coaster, a Ferris wheel, a splash pad, pedal boats on the river, a petting farm, a train and Santa in his summer house; beside it, Sportsland has the go-karts and the mini-golf for the older siblings. The park opens for the summer season and again for Christmas events in late November and December. A Vaughan family from Woodbridge books the day as an hourly hire in a Luxury SUV: pickup at 8:30, the park at ten thirty when it opens, four hours, the falls in the late afternoon, home by seven with the children asleep by Barrie. Grandparents make it seven people and an Executive Sprinter.

The falls, three of them

Bracebridge Falls is at the foot of Manitoba Street, with the town's Memorial Park and the bay's walkway around it; it is five minutes from the vehicle and the first stop of any visit. Wilson's Falls, ten minutes north on the river, has a loop trail of a kilometre and a half through the pines to the falls and back, the family walk. High Falls, on the North Branch of the river beside Highway 11 north of town, is the tallest of the three, with a short trail from the parking area to the top of the falls and the Potts Falls beside it — the stop that a chauffeured family makes on the way home because the vehicle is already on Highway 11. The Muskoka tourism site has the trail map; the chauffeur has driven to all three.

The main street, the brewery and lunch

Manitoba Street is Bracebridge's main street, a run of shops, a bakery, a bookstore and the restaurants where a family eats between the park and the falls; the town's farmers' market is on Saturday mornings in summer. Muskoka Brewery's home is on the town's industrial road, with a taproom and tours — the adults' stop in a group day, with the chauffeur as the driver who does not taste. The Rene M. Caisse Theatre at the high school runs the town's concerts and plays.

The cottage transfer

Lake Muskoka's north end, the Muskoka River's chain of lakes, and the cottage roads off Highway 118 west toward Port Carling and off Highway 11 north are Bracebridge's cottage country, and the transfer from Vaughan is the Sprinter booking that this site sells for every Muskoka town: the family, the luggage, the coolers, the dog and the canoe on the rack, one trip, the return a week later, the cottage's directions rather than its address. The Vaughan to Muskoka route page sets out the transfer terms; the Port Carling post covers the big-lake cottages west of the town.

Christmas in Bracebridge

Santa's Village runs a Christmas season in late November and December — lights, the village decorated, Santa in residence — and the town's Festival of Lights along the falls makes a December Saturday a Vaughan family booking: an SUV up in the afternoon, the village at dusk, dinner on Manitoba Street, home by ten. It is a winter drive on Highway 11 and the chauffeur drives it as one.

The route

The 400 north to Barrie, Highway 11 north through Orillia and Gravenhurst to Bracebridge's exits — divided highway the whole way, and a family from Maple or the VMC is on the 400 within minutes. The routing estimate is two hours ten; the practical time is under two on a clear Saturday morning and three on a Friday afternoon in July, when the chauffeur suggests leaving before the exodus.

Which vehicle

An SUV for a family day with boosters at $25 each; a Sprinter for grandparents-included or two families sharing the park; a Sprinter for the cottage transfer with the rack; a Premium Sedan for a couple at one of the resorts on the Muskoka River — Touchstone, Taboo at Gravenhurst — for a weekend.

What the chauffeur replaces

Four hours of the 400 and 11 with young children; the Santa's Village lot on a July Saturday; the falls stops that a tired driver skips on the way home. The fare is an hourly number in the booking engine for the day, or a one-way each way for the cottage, and for grandparents-and-all in a Sprinter it undercuts two cars; for a family of four it is a comfort purchase for a day that is about the children, and the site says so.

Seasons

Summer for the village, the falls and the cottages; October for the falls in colour and the town's fall fair; December for the lights and the Christmas village; winter otherwise a Huntsville stopover. May and June are the quiet weeks with the falls at their fullest from the spring melt — the best time to photograph them.

A family day, in order

A family of four from Concord with a five- and an eight-year-old on a Saturday in July: the SUV at 8:15 with two boosters, the 400 and 11, Bracebridge by ten; Santa's Village at its opening at ten thirty — the coaster, the Ferris wheel, the pedal boats, the splash pad after lunch at the park's grill — until three; the drive back through town to Bracebridge Falls for the walk along the bay and an ice cream on Manitoba Street; High Falls at five on the way to Highway 11 for the short trail to the top; home by seven with both children asleep. Ten and a half hours of hourly hire, one number in the booking engine, and a day whose only driving was done by someone else.

Muskoka Brewery, the winery and the adults' version

Bracebridge is the home of Muskoka Brewery, whose taproom on Taylor Road runs tours and tastings, and it is twenty minutes from Muskoka Lakes Winery at Bala's cranberry marsh; a group of adults from Vaughan books a Sprinter for a Saturday that does the brewery at noon, lunch on Manitoba Street, the winery and the marsh at Bala in the afternoon, the falls at Bala on the way, and the drive home — the chauffeur being the one who does not taste. The Port Carling and Lake Rosseau post covers Bala's Thanksgiving festival, which is the same day at its busiest.

The resorts on the river and the lake

Touchstone on Lake Muskoka, the Bracebridge shore's resort, and the resorts toward Gravenhurst are the couples' weekend from this town — a Premium Sedan on a return pair — and the town's inns on the river are the smaller version. A family that wants a resort weekend with the village and the falls books the SUV to stay, because the resorts are twenty minutes from the town and the village is twenty minutes the other way.

The Muskoka River lakes and the cottage road

The Muskoka River's chain — the North and South Branches, Lake Muskoka's north bays, the smaller lakes off Highway 118 west and Highway 11 north — is Bracebridge's cottage country, and the Sprinter transfer from Vaughan is the booking: the family, the luggage, the dog, the canoe on the rack, one trip, the cottage's directions, the return a week later. The chauffeur has driven the township roads and knows which cottage road is a private one with a gate.

Pickup notes

The 400 for every Vaughan community — Maple and the VMC are on it, Woodbridge joins at Major Mackenzie, Thornhill crosses on Highway 7 — then Highway 11 north. Give us the Santa's Village day, the seats, the falls you want, the cottage directions and loads if it is a transfer, and the resort if it is a weekend; the chauffeur confirms the plan the evening before.

The Fall Fair and the town's calendar

Bracebridge's Fall Fair in September — a country fair with a midway, animals and a demolition derby — and the summer's Saturday farmers' market on Manitoba Street are the town events Vaughan families time a day around, with the falls at their fullest in May and the Festival of Lights along them in December. The town's pages on the Muskoka tourism site carry the dates; the chauffeur builds the day around the one you name.

The Muskoka Lakes farm road

West of the town, Highway 118 toward Port Carling passes the region's farm stands and, at Bala's edge, Johnston's Cranberry Marsh and the winery — a September or October afternoon that a chauffeured family adds to the Santa's Village morning for the older children and the adults: the marsh's tour, the bog walk in boots, a case of cranberries in the cargo area, and the drive home by Muskoka Road 169 and the 400 through Gravenhurst rather than back to Highway 11. The Port Carling post covers the marsh's Thanksgiving festival.

Packing for a Santa's Village day

Swimsuits and towels for the splash pad and the pedal boats, a change of clothes for both children, sunscreen, hats, a cooler with the lunch if the park's grill is not the plan, and the boosters already fitted in the SUV; the park has lockers and the cargo area has the rest. On the way home the wet things go in a bin bag the chauffeur carries, and the falls stop at High Falls needs shoes with grip for the rock at the top. Nothing about the day needs a plan beyond the park's opening hour and the pickup, which is the point.

Booking it

Book an hourly day from your Vaughan address for Santa's Village and the falls, a one-way for the cottage with the return date, or a return pair for a resort weekend; tell us the seats, the loads, the rack and the timings, and the chauffeur confirms the evening before.

Book the Bracebridge day