The Musquash River is a river in
Muskoka District Municipality
The District Municipality of Muskoka, more generally referred to as the District of Muskoka or Muskoka, is a regional municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. Muskoka extends from Georgian Bay in the west, to the northern tip of Lake Couchiching ...
, west Central
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada, which splits from the
Moon River
"Moon River" is a song composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was originally performed by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 movie ''Breakfast at Tiffany's (film), Breakfast at Tiffany's'', winning an Academy Award for Best Original ...
and flows west into
Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay (french: Baie Georgienne) is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. To ...
. Musquash is an
Abenaki
The Abenaki (Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was predom ...
word meaning "
muskrat
The muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands over a wide range of climates and habitat ...
".
Hydrology
Up until 1968, the river was considered to be a continuation of the
Muskoka River
The Muskoka River is a river in the Muskoka District of Ontario, Canada.
It rises in the highlands of Algonquin Park and flows southwest through a number of lakes including
*Lake Muskoka
*Lake Joseph
*Lake Rosseau
*Lake of Bays
which empty into ...
. It begins just below Moon Chute on the Moon River at an elevation of where some of that river's water leave south and then pass through the Ragged Rapids Generating Station. It enters
Wahta Mohawk Territory
The Wahta Mohawks are a Mohawk First Nation in Ontario. The Wahta Mohawk Territory is their territory (reserve) in the District Municipality of Muskoka, Ontario, Canada near Bala. It is bounded on the west by Highway 400, a major north–south ...
, then flows past the Big Eddy Generating Station and dam and under
Highway 400, through Gray Lake and enters
Go Home Lake
Go Home Lake is a lake in west central Ontario in the Township of Georgian Bay, District of Muskoka. Go Home Lake is a natural lake which is actually part of the Musquash River system (also spelled as "Musquosh" on some maps). It was opened up ...
at an elevation of . Some of the lake's waters leaves at the west via the Go Home River, while the rest exits over the Go Home Lake Dam as the Musquash River. The river then takes in the left tributary Gibson River, turns west, passes through Three Rock Chute
[Typo, http://www4.rncan.gc.ca/search-place-names/unique/FCWEB] and exits into the Musquash Channel on Georgian Bay,
Lake Huron
Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...
at an elevation of .
Settlements
Near the end of the 19th century, a lumber town called Muskoka Mills was located at the mouth of the river.
In popular culture
The Musquash River and Muskoka Mills are the setting for
Slaid Cleaves
Slaid Cleaves is an American singer-songwriter born in Washington, D.C. and raised in South Berwick, Maine and Round Pond, Maine, United States. An alumnus of Tufts University, where he majored in English and philosophy, Cleaves lives in Aus ...
' song
Breakfast in Hell
Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night.Anderson, Heather Arndt (2013)''Breakfast: A History'' AltaMira Press. Various "typical" or "t ...
, about a doomed lumberjack who motivates his men to break a logjam in 1899.
See also
*
List of rivers of Ontario
This is the list of rivers which are in and flow through Ontario. The watershed list includes tributaries as well.
Dee River, flows between Three Mile Lake and Lake Rosseau.
List of rivers arranged by watershed Hudson Bay
Atlantic Ocean
...
References
*
Rivers of Muskoka District
Tributaries of Georgian Bay
{{NorthernOntario-river-stub