Oxtongue Lake: Lakeside, Trails and Art Stories

At Oxtongue Lake, sandy shores, the Beetle Lake Trail and a distinctive local art history come together. The lake is the last lake before the western entrance to Algonquin Park; Ragged Falls is at its northern end. This makes it possible to combine a lakeside stay with discoveries about local history and art. When looking for a vacation rental, you can consider whether the lake, trails or cultural sites will be the main deciding factor for your trip.

Lake, Trail and Getting Your Bearings

Oxtongue Lake offers opportunities for swimming and has mostly sandy shores. If you choose to make the lake the focus of your stay, you can take this landscape into account when deciding on the right base. Ragged Falls at the northern end provides its own geographic landmark; the lake itself lies before the western entrance to Algonquin Park.

The Beetle Lake Trail currently consists of two 2.5 km loop trails with out-and-back routes, one on each side of Oxtongue Lake. The municipality notes a temporary change to the route due to a bridge. So check the current route before setting out. The two loops and their locations on different sides of the lake provide a practical guide for planning a trail outing.

The parking lot for the Beetle Lake Trail is at 1035 Algonquin Outfitters Road. The western trailhead is just past the Algonquin Outfitters store. The A.J. Casson Plaque of Honour is also helpful for getting your bearings: it is at the western end of the Oxtongue Lake bridge, near Algonquin Outfitters Road.

Local History and Art

The Oxtongue Lake Schoolhouse was a one-room schoolhouse clad in stone. In the 1970s, the municipality took over the building for use as a community centre. Its history thus connects two different purposes: its earlier use as a school and its later role as a community space.

The Oxtongue River mural, a community work by Gerry Lantaigne and Janine Marson, is located in the Oxtongue Lake Community Centre. Another mural, “Northern River,” is located at Algonquin Outfitters - Oxtongue Lake. It is by Gerry Lantaigne and refers to Tom Thomson. Together, the two works show different local connections to art: one is a community-created mural, while the other explicitly references Thomson.

A plaque by Oxtongue Lake for Arts & Culture was unveiled at the 2016 Canada Day celebrations. It honours explorer and cartographer David Thompson, who travelled more than 90,000 kilometres across North America on foot, by canoe and on horseback, and travelled along the Oxtongue River and Oxtongue Lake. Near Oxtongue Lake, the “Tom Thomson and Northern River” plaque is also located on the Oxtongue River.

The A.J. Casson Plaque of Honour features the painting created there and includes quotations and factual information about the work and A.J. Casson. Another stop on the Outdoor Exhibit is Plaque 6 at Blue Spruce Resort near Oxtongue Lake. It is dedicated to A.J. Casson and “The Bay, Oxtongue Lake.” Casson is thus featured on two different plaques, while the murals and the Thompson plaque take up other themes in the local story of art and history.

Discover more destinations: Minden, Highland Grove, Haliburton, Cardiff, Tory Hill, Carnarvon, Harcourt.

Go to the main travel overview: Haliburton County.