Cache Lake

By Guy Scott

Algonquin Park became Ontario’s first provincial park in 1893. The rapidly diminishing “wild lands” in southern Ontario led the government to establish this large area in south-central Ontario as a park. For the next few decades, the size of the park was increased as more townships were added, including 4 townships from Haliburton County.

The purpose of this park was to conserve unspoiled Nature for all Ontarians to enjoy. No farmers were allowed in the Park, but lumbermen were welcome. But despite its “open for tourism” policy, access was very difficult. In the age before motor cars, the only access to the park was by canoe or steam train. J.R. Booth, lumber magnate from the Ottawa Valley, had begun to build a railway through the Park in the 1890s to access his timber limits and connect the Ottawa Valley with Parry Sound on Lake Huron. The Ottawa-Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway would provide excellent access to the park. Several stations were set up along the route including Canoe Lake to allow access to the big Gilmour Mill at Mowat.

The next most important station was built at Cache Lake in the central part of the park. The railway station was called the Algonquin Park Station. The headquarters staff for the park moved here from Canoe Lake as this depot was more central in the park. After the OA&PS Railway opened in 1897, the Government changed policy and allowed private leases of land and the construction of hotels and resorts to open up the park for more people to use. Several resorts and a few private cottages sprang up, mostly along the railway for ease of access.

The Grand Trunk Railway bought out the OA&PS railway in 1905 and in 1908 built the Highland Inn at Algonquin Park Station on a hill overlooking Cache Lake. The Highland Inn was an immediate success. The simple hotel was immediately expanded several times to handle a growing volume of tourists. The railway station was at a lower level between the hotel and the lake. Further below, along the lakeshore was a huge boat house and the park headquarters compound. Several other satellite lodges were opened in the area and serviced from the Highland Inn.

The Inn contained 72 rooms, 11 which had their own bathrooms. It had all the luxuries of any hotel of this era including running water, daily train service, hiking, outdoor camping and every kind of boat you could think of. When CNR bought out the Grand Trunk Railway in 1923, the Inn became heavily promoted as a CN Hotel. The Great Depression severely curtailed tourism in the park. The massive Highland Inn was closed in 1932. It was reopened in 1937, but the glory days were over.

Lumbering declined dramatically and railway business with it. CN stopped making repairs to the railway and it was eventually closed. In the 1930s, a new highway (now #60) was built through the park as a “makework” relief project. By 1948 the new road made the railway redundant and it was torn up. While the railway passed by the vicinity of Cache Lake, the glory days were over. In 1954, the Ontario Government changed policy away from private business and land ownership and began to return to public use only. In 1956 the massive Highland Inn complex was bought by the government and torn down. Gone were the huge hotel and the railway station. Some of the park buildings remained, but the original complex became an historical site. All that remains today are a few plaques and artifacts. Tourism moved to several large campgrounds located along the Highway #60 corridor.