Heritage & Culture.
The Group of Seven Outdoor Gallery threads the township from Dwight through Dorset to Baysville with murals on building exteriors as part of a year-round free network of more than 100 outdoor murals reproducing Group of Seven and Tom Thomson works across Huntsville, Lake of Bays, and the Algonquin region — founded in 1997 by local artist Gerry Lantaigne. Bigwin Island, reached by passenger-only ferry from Norway Point, holds the legacy of the historic Bigwin Inn.
The brief.
The Outdoor Gallery is fully outdoor and viewable year-round; the densest cluster (the Main Gallery, 38 murals) sits in downtown Huntsville, and the Lake of Bays-side murals are sprinkled across Dwight, Dorset, and Baysville. Bigwin Island's modern resort, Bigwin Island Golf Club, runs an 18-hole championship course on a Stanley Thompson original routing from the early 1920s; the historic Bigwin Inn operated 1920–1970 and at its peak was among the largest resort hotels in North America.
Public ferry access runs from Bigwin Island Marina at Norway Point seasonally; there is no public car access. Baysville's heritage walk on the Muskoka River outlet rounds out the township's culture inventory.
3. places.
- 01
Group of Seven Outdoor Gallery (Lake of Bays segment)
Murals in Dwight, Dorset, and Baysville; year-round free; founded 1997 by Gerry Lantaigne.
- 02
Bigwin Island
Passenger-only ferry from Norway Point (Bigwin Island Marina); historic Bigwin Inn site (operated 1920–1970); modern Bigwin Island Golf Club on Stanley Thompson original routing.
- 03
Baysville
1880s settler village on the Muskoka River outlet of Lake of Bays.
Today's read.
Cold but firm — winter-ready conditions · light winds · clean air.