High Falls Bay Cottages, Camping & Waterpark — Local services in District Municipality of Muskoka

I want to preface this review by saying that we are CAMPERS; thus we don’t expect much :) We were hesitant to check this place out because of all the bad reviews but figured it can’t be that bad !! It wasn’t !! Sand and water and we are happy campers :). We were sooo pleasantly surprised by our experience !!! I have a feeling that a lot of the negative reviews are moreso of the cottages or those expecting a provincial park or resort. FOR CAMPING I think this place is an amazing hidden gem. You’re not going to find beachfront camping like this.

To clarify a few things (cause I did my research and I got the details :)

IT IS NO LONGER A NUDE BEACH. Used to be apparently; but there was no one nude on our trip and we called beforehand to confirm. I’d imagine if you still wanted to do the nude thing you may be able to but don’t quote me on it :)

THEY ARE NOT NEW OWNERS. Owners are the same people. Just the kids of the family are there more now running things. Brian Coldin and nephew Josh were amazing to work with and very helpful. Brian went above and beyond to help us get settled in with our trailer and even assisted with some dog training :)

WATERPARK Not included in camping. $20 adults. $10 kids if you’re camping. Was a lot of fun for the kids. Our 10 and 5 year old kayaked ALL DAY. Yes some of the equipment is old / broken but you pick through it and it’s amazing. This place has soooo much more potential with some general grounds work.

BOOKING when you book online You don’t book a specific site. Mention in the comments your side preference. They place you once you get there first come first serve.

SITES We stayed at site 10 and it was perfect. For beachfront sites - anything from site 6-11 is great. We had no issues getting our pop up in.

GROUPS Best at 10/11 9/10 or 7-8 IMO

PRIVACY On a busy long weekend like when we were there you are very close to your neighbour and packed in on the beach; but I’d imagine on other days they spread you out more and not an issue. We made friends with our neighbours and everyone was really chill.

WILDERNESS SITES have no services and are quite wilderness. If you want privacy and and are ok to rough it even more, check it out for only $50 a nights.

My only suggestions :

BATHROOMS More / new bathrooms would be great. The two flushable porta potties were totally fine but often had lines. Im not gonna lie I like my provincial park toilets

SHOWERS There was 1 shower for the campground and it was often busy or not working. Once again we made due with the lake but more working showers would be amazing.

TIP The path / road down to the campsite area is quite steep in and out. Those with large RVs may have some issues getting in. Also the sites for large RVs are not as spacious as you may think from the pics.

We...

Booked this cottage without looking at reviews and boy was it the biggest mistake. We paid $1800 for 2 night in there 5 bedroom cottage. Upon arrival the first things noticed about the place was the pictures online of the cottage are from 30 Years ago ( not joking) the furniture was also 30 years old as you can see the same furniture in the original photos. Inside the cottage contained 2 bathrooms which were both not the cleanest but usable for the weekend after a wipe down. All Of the blinds in the living room were broken and could not close. The ceiling fan had more dust than fan blade visible. We had planned this trip about 30 days prior to going but only chose this location because there was nothing else available ( wonder why). We had family from different parts of Ontario as well as family from out of Ontario attend the get together. Shortly after we arrived we rented the bbq tank and inquired about wood. The owners son advised that it would be ok to take or cut wood from the forest as long as we don’t cut down any live trees. We then started up The bbq to make some food as we had just drove 3.5 hours to reach the cottage. First thing we noticed was that only 1 of The 3 burners worked on the bbq. We sacrificed but felt robbed. The next day we planned to go to the beach where The walk to the beach is like a roadway to death, the owner is walking around in boxers with holes in it all day at the beach and charges $20 per person to Use 30 Year old half broken equipment. He also wanted cash only to Use the equipment. The water smells from low water flow. After the beach we opened the bbq to find that now none of the burners work. We then asked the owners son for a new bbq which we had to help him bring over ( we shouldn’t have to Work on our vacation but we needed to Eat, the new bbq was missing one of the grills). Now things get interesting as the son return back to the office and send his sister down where she starts arguing with us about the firewood and telling us we can’t take the wood from the forest. After talking to her for 10 min she says everything is ok and also goes back to the office ( this was about 4pm Or so). Later that night as we all gather around the fire making s’mores with nieces etc the father Brian comes over to the cottage and starts demanding we pay him for the wood from the forest. At this point we figure out that this is a scam and tell him that we are Not paying anything and will leave the cottage. He continues to demand cash ( who caries $1500 cash). Him and his daughter look Like they are in deep Financially and will try to scam anyone. AVOID THIS PLACE and google search BRIAN COLDIN BRACEBRIDGE before booking if you...

In my mind a four letter word comes into play....DUMP....I am sure all the good reviews come from either the owners or from the trailer sites down at the lake Other than the abundance of sand they looked awesome. Now for the cottages where we stayed. We booked an end room of the what I say is an older motel section. Nothing like the pictures. Entrance on the back...instead of the front...smelled sewer when you walked into the room..I believe from a trailer parked close...carpet ripped up in two places and you felt BUGGY when you walked in... unit 7 ...-4 out of 10 yes negative 4. I asked to be moved and was able to go to room 1...lots better but still only 3 out of 10....we had already paid so we make most of it...Spoke with a few others and they expressed pretty much the same opinion as us. They wanted to leave but would only be given a credit for next stay instead on refund.... I asked one of the staff as to ownership of the place, as all we saw were young adults...apparently group owned and the guy Brian who walks around barefeet is the father. The kids could be doing all sorts of things to CLEAN UP the place instead of standing around chatting in the office. Garbage, old bbq, and building materials laying around. The buildings are in serious need of maintenance without using tarps, the cottages need paint and repairs and just a simple wipper snip of weeds to clean up. I watched the room cleaner (by the way if you do stay DO NOT LOOK UNDER THE BED). Sheets and towels only got changed, the bed spreads did not even come out of the room. And when they opened the door to come out of the cleaned room your eyes burned of the cleaning solution smell as if it got sprayed from a bottle like febreeze when they walked out...Did I mention the price??? 189 a night for a room that should have been about 99......and if you bring your dogs (s) to this pet friendly place it will cost an extra 50 per dog per reservation... All in all I would not recommend the place. And if High Falls should read this review I would seriously recommend cleaning up the cottage area of the place and the lots around the roads going down to the camping areas. Make you your staff possibly make contact with the guests to see how there stay is, as we never had it once. Brian (father and owner) drove by on his bike and never even looked at us sitting...