Dorset, Ontario

Dorset is a small community located on the boundary between the Lake of Bays Municipality in Muskoka District and the Algonquin Highlands Township in Haliburton County, Ontario, Canada. Dorset was originally called Cedar Narrows. In 1859 Francis Harvey became the first European settler here. Zachariah Cole mapped out the area for the government around 1860. The community name was chosen by some of the settlers that came from Dorset, England.

As of 2009^[update], Dorset has a local permanent population of approximately 400 although these numbers increase more than tenfold in the summer months due to cottagers and vacationers.

Dorset is located within the Canadian Shield ecological region of Canada. The region has many lakes surrounded by mixed hardwood forests of predominately Sugar Maple, Red Oak, White Ash, and Yellow Birch as well as softwoods such as Eastern White Pine, Black Spruce, Eastern Hemlock, and Balsam Fir. Spruce bogs, wetlands, large granite rock outcroppings are also common in the local area.

Dorset is located on the shores of Lake of Bays between Big and Little Trading Bay. The two bodies of water are connected via the natural Dorset Channel that runs through the middle of Dorset.

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