Highland Inn

The Highland Inn (1908–1957) was a year-round resort hotel built and operated by the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR), in Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial Park. It was located near the park offices on the northern edge of Cache Lake, and was a focal point for the park for many years. Wishing to return the park lands to a more natural state, the Inn was purchased by the Ontario Government in 1957 and removed. Today all that remains are traces of the concrete stairs and platform that met the CNR line, which was lifted after departure of the last train in 1959.

The park was established in 1893 as a nature preserve and recreational playground. The railway through the southern and western portions of the park had been built in the 1890s by the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway (OA&PS), opened for traffic in 1897, and was purchased by the GTR in 1905. Changes to the administration policies of the park since 1893 permitted short-term leases for the construction and operation of hotels and summer camps to make the park more attractive to tourists.

By 1908, the GTR had become well established in Muskoka, southwest of Algonquin Park, as a resort area which the railway promoted as “The Highlands of Ontario.” In that year, the Grand Trunk Railway opened its first tourist lodge, the Highland Inn. It was an immediate success.

Located at the Algonquin Park station near the park headquarters, the Inn was a simple two-story structure with a covered verandah across the front of its main floor, which overlooked Cache Lake. A staircase led from the station platform to the main entrance at the center of the building; there was also an inclined path leading up from the station. In its first years of operation, the hotel proved so popular that land on the west side of Highland Inn was cleared and raised wooden platforms erected, on which tents (supplied by the hotel), were put up to meet the requirements of the rapidly growing tourist trade.

In 1913 the Highland Inn was enlarged and a west wing was built, along with a three-story central tower and an addition to the east side, extending from the rear of the original structure. Only that first section of the hotel, however, was winterized. The number of rooms included 11 with bath and 61 without. Running water was supplied from a large wooden water tower at the rear of the hotel. Water was also supplied to fire hydrants, while a standpipe at the station serviced steam locomotives.

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Wikipedia