Muskoka gearing up for summer amid ongoing recovery from flood damage

Infrastructure damage from flooding needs to be dealt with including along walking trail of Bracebridge Bay and snowmobile crossing along Santa’s Village Road.

Flooding across Muskoka combined with recent rainy weather has impacted the start of what is typically a busy time for cottage country, but it’s not all bad news.

The Town of Bracebridge confirmed it is almost out of the water following one of its worst flooding seasons.

“Overall, we’re in good shape in terms of recovery, and we’re looking forward to welcoming in folks to Bracebridge as we move into our wonderful summer season here,” said Bracebridge Mayor Rick Maloney.

Most flood debris has been cleared from local parks and water levels are back to seasonal levels.

Town staff held a debrief Wednesday afternoon on their response, but several steps in the recovery still remain.

The pedestrian path up to the scenic Bracebridge Falls remains closed.

The town had to remove a snowmobile crossing along Santa’s Village Road after it collected a substantial amount of debris.

The total damage cost is expected to be confirmed later this summer.

“We did have some impacts to some of our park infrastructure and some of our road infrastructure,” said Mayor Maloney. “We know it’s going to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars (of damage).”

Camp Hillbilly in Gravenhurst and its sister resorts in Severn Township and Huntsville have also been feeling the impact.

“They had a lot of flash-flooding this year, so it affects the tourism,” said Steven Skinner, Camp Hillbilly Manager. “It’s like a chain effect mostly for us. If our sister companies are affected, then we’re affected by them. And if the area’s affected then people don’t want to come to the area.”

The Gravenhurst campsite opened two weeks behind schedule and was affected by poor weekend weather this month.

“We had a pretty quiet Victoria Day weekend, but we’re amped up and we’re ready for the nice weather coming out now for sure,” added Skinner.

On the other hand, real estate in the Region of Haliburton stayed strong despite the state of emergency that was declared in the Town of Minden.

According to Baumgartner Realty Group, median sales prices are up seven per cent compared to last year and average days on market have decreased by nearly half.

“We have been seeing a steady recovery,” said Nicole Baumgartner, Baumgartner Realty Group broker. “We’re really seeing the trends pointing to a strong real estate market for 2026.”

The District of Muskoka extended its program for residents to dispose of flood debris without tipping fees until the end of June.