Vaughan to Muskoka

Vaughan to Muskoka: the cottage run, the resort and the Friday-evening 400

Muskoka is where Vaughan goes in July. The cottages on Lake Muskoka, Rosseau and Joseph, the resorts — Deerhurst at Huntsville, the JW Marriott on Rosseau, Windermere House, Taboo at Gravenhurst — and the small towns between are two hours up the 400 and Highway 11 from Maple on a Sunday, and three on a Friday evening in summer when the 400 north of King City is the slowest road in the province. A chauffeur turns the Friday drive into the start of the weekend and the Sunday drive into a nap. The Luxury SUV for six and the Executive Sprinter for fourteen are the cottage vehicles: cargo bays, roof capacity and the ground clearance for a cottage road.

The drive

The 400 north from Vaughan — every community joins it within ten minutes, Maple and Concord fastest — to Barrie, where it becomes Highway 11 north to Gravenhurst, Bracebridge and Huntsville, or splits at Highway 169 for Bala, Port Carling and the west shores of Lake Muskoka and Rosseau. 110 minutes to Gravenhurst, 125 to Bracebridge and Port Carling, 150 to Huntsville, off-peak. On a summer Friday from four to eight, add forty to sixty minutes; the chauffeur leaves early or late, and suggests which.

The cottage weekend, as one-ways

Friday afternoon: the SUV at the Kleinburg door at two, loaded with the family, the dog in a carrier, the coolers and the dock chairs, the cottage by four-thirty. Sunday: pickup at three, home by five-thirty. Two fixed fares from the engine, each including the chauffeur's return. No vehicle sits at the cottage for two days at a day rate, and nobody drives the 400 tired. For the family that stays a fortnight, the same two legs; for the grandparents who come for the middle weekend, a third.

The resorts, and the car on the lake

Deerhurst, the JW Marriott Rosseau, Windermere House, Taboo and the Clevelands House site host Vaughan weddings, corporate retreats and family reunions, and the transportation is a Sprinter from the VMC or the church, the vehicle by the day if the group wants to be driven between the resort, Port Carling and the golf, and the Sprinter home. The travel desk and Discover Muskoka cover the stays; the wedding page covers a Muskoka wedding's logistics, which start with a Vaughan church and end on a dock.

Cottage roads

Most cottage addresses are the last kilometre on gravel, and the map's idea of the driveway is not always the driveway. Put the cottage road's name, the fire number and any "turn at the red mailbox" instruction in the notes; the chauffeur calls the day before to confirm, and the SUV has the clearance for it. A stretch does not, and we will not send one.

Winter Muskoka

Snowmobile weekends, the Deerhurst winter packages, the Huntsville ski hills and the lakes frozen for skating — the 400 and Highway 11 are ploughed highways but the cottage roads are not always, and the chauffeur's winter tyres and judgment are the difference. The Friday drive in January is dark by five; a chauffeur is the sensible answer.

The airport-to-cottage transfer

Visitors landing at Pearson for a Muskoka week — the family from Florida, the wedding guests from Vancouver — are met at the terminal and driven straight north, a single fixed fare from the airport to the cottage or resort, with the free waiting period on the arrival and the Vaughan stop for groceries if wanted.

Which vehicle

The Luxury SUV for a family of six with the cottage load. The Sprinter for the reunion or the wedding party. The Executive Sedan for a couple to a resort with two bags. The Premium Sedan for the executive to a retreat.

Booking Vaughan to Muskoka

Two one-way legs with dates and times, the cottage address and fire number, passengers and load in the notes. Accept the fixed fares. For a resort week with a car on site, the contact page.

Muskoka's geography, for the booking form

Gravenhurst is the gateway at the south end of Lake Muskoka, on Highway 11 an hour and fifty minutes from Vaughan, with the Taboo resort and the steamships. Bracebridge is fifteen minutes north on Highway 11, the district's town, with the falls and the road west to Lake Muskoka's east shore. Port Carling is the hub of the lakes — the locks between Lake Muskoka and Lake Rosseau, the village, the road to the JW Marriott at Minett and to Windermere — reached by Highway 169 from the 400's end at Highway 12 or by Muskoka Road 118 from Bracebridge. Bala is on Lake Muskoka's west shore on 169. Huntsville is the northern town, forty minutes past Bracebridge on Highway 11, with Deerhurst and the road to Algonquin. Each cottage address is a district road, a fire number and a last kilometre of gravel, and the booking form's notes are where those go.

A cottage weekend, as it runs

A Kleinburg family of six book a Luxury SUV to a cottage on Lake Rosseau's east shore for Friday at 14:00 and home on Sunday at 15:00. The chauffeur loads the family, the dog in its carrier, three coolers and the weekend's bags at 13:55, takes Major Mackenzie to the 400 and north; at 14:00 on a Friday in July the 400 is moving, and the SUV is past Barrie by 15:00, off at Highway 12 and up 169 through Bala to Port Carling by 15:45, and down the district road and the gravel to the cottage by 16:10, where the chauffeur carries the coolers to the dock. Sunday at 15:00 the SUV is back, and the family is home by 17:30 with the 400 south moving against the northbound crowd. Two fixed fares, each including the chauffeur's return, and the notes carried the fire number and "turn left at the red boathouse".

The resorts, in detail

Deerhurst at Huntsville is the district's largest resort and conference venue, on Peninsula Lake, with the golf and the summer stage; a Vaughan company's retreat or a wedding there is a Sprinter booking and often a car on site by the day. The JW Marriott The Rosseau at Minett on Lake Rosseau is the luxury address — the spa, the lakeside pool — and a Premium Sedan or an SUV from Vaughan to its drive is a two-hour transfer. Windermere House on Lake Rosseau is the historic hotel; Taboo at Gravenhurst is the closest resort to Vaughan at under two hours; the Bigwin Island club and the Lake Joseph Club are the golf. Each has a long drive from the road to the lobby and the chauffeur goes to the door. Discover Muskoka lists the rest; the travel desk books them.

The summer Friday, honestly

The 400 north from Highway 7 to Barrie between 15:00 and 19:00 on a Friday from the May long weekend to Labour Day is the one road every Vaughan chauffeur would rather not be on, and the honest advice is to leave before 14:00 or after 19:30. Highway 11 north of Barrie is better; Highway 169 through Bala is two lanes behind boat trailers; the Port Carling locks stop the village road when a steamship goes through. The Sunday return is the reverse from 13:00 to 18:00. A chauffeur cannot make the 400 move; what the chauffeur can do is leave at the right hour, take the right lane, and let the family sleep — and the confirmation's pickup time reflects the advice.

Muskoka weddings and the airport

A Vaughan couple marrying at a Muskoka resort moves the wedding party north on Friday in a Sprinter, holds a car on site for the weekend's movements between the resort, the church in Port Carling or Bracebridge and the golf, and brings everyone home on Sunday; the guests from away are met at Pearson and driven straight north, a single fixed fare from the terminal to the resort. The wedding page has the planning; the Pearson route the airport side.

Algonquin, Georgian Bay and the far end

Beyond Huntsville the road continues to Algonquin Park's west gate on Highway 60 — forty minutes further, and a booking Vaughan families make for the autumn colour weekends and the canoe trips, with the SUV's roof carrying the canoe if you ask. Georgian Bay's Muskoka shore — Honey Harbour, Port Severn, the Big Chute — is reached by Highway 400's end at Highway 12 and Highway 400's northern extension; Parry Sound is another hour. The Discover Muskoka site has the districts; the engine prices any of them from a Vaughan door, and the chauffeur has driven all of them in every season.

The grocery stop, and the boat

Two notes that make a cottage transfer easy: tell us if the family wants a grocery stop — the Gravenhurst and Bracebridge supermarkets are on Highway 11 and the chauffeur builds it in — and tell us if the cottage is water-access. For an island cottage the chauffeur drops at the marina or the family's mainland dock, helps load the boat, and collects at the same dock on Sunday; the marina's name goes in the notes. Water-access transfers are common on Lake Muskoka and Lake Joseph and are priced to the dock.

Book Vaughan to Muskoka

The details

Highway 11 at Gravenhurst has the last big grocery stop before the lakes. Highway 169 to Bala is two lanes and slow behind boat trailers on a Friday. Port Carling's lock traffic stops the road in the village on a summer afternoon. The Deerhurst and JW Rosseau drives are long; the chauffeur goes to the lobby door. And the Sunday return from Huntsville is fastest leaving before one or after six; the chauffeur will say which.