Before it was known as Ontario's cottage country, Muskoka's resorts made it one of Canada's most popular vacation destinations.

Try to imagine Muskoka without its iconic resorts: Windermere House, with its white towers looking out over Lake Rosseau; Deerhurst, with its tradition of warm hospitality dating back more than a century; or JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka Resort & Spa, reaching new heights of elegance. You can't do it. Muskoka's resorts are so thoroughly woven into the tapestry of the region's character that they are inseparable from it and are as quintessential as the Canadian Shield's granite rock formations and crystalline lakes.

What few people realize is these resorts represent a mere fraction of the summer hotels that existed in the area at one time. Today, resorts are a disappearing breed; most have long since vanished. At various points in history, there were well over a hundred resorts - large and small, opulent and rustic - active in Muskoka. All had their unique charm and character.

Pack your bags and embark on a series of memorable vacations at some of Muskoka's most captivating historic resorts with Andrew Hind, one of the area's most engaging writers.