Hidden Valley Resort: Family fun in Muskoka

Vital Statistics

Location: Hidden Valley Resort, Huntsville, Muskoka, Canada

Best For: Families, small groups 

Star Rating: 4/5 as the rooms that are on the parking lot side aren’t as nice as the lake side.

I spent most of my childhood going to our family cottage on Lake of Bays in Muskoka, Ontario and they are some of my most fond memories. Our cottage was built by my great grandfather back in the early 1900’s and was such a beautiful spot. In July 2017, we held a family reunion with our extended family and what better place than in Muskoka where we spent so many summers together.

We decided on a lovely place called Hidden Valley Resort. It is located just outside the town of Huntsville, about a two hour drive north of Toronto. As we pulled up to Hidden Valley, I was instantly reminded of the resort from the movie Dirty Dancing (I am aging myself now!). The lobby had a very warm feel with a mixture of wood and stone accents and a beautiful view of Peninsula Lake.

Rooms

There are 100 rooms at this resort, with quite a few choices depending on the size of your group. The rooms are decorated with a natural decor to add to the ambience of being on the lake.

We had a two queen bed traditional room that faced the parking lot. I would recommend asking for a lake view room as I felt that our room seemed a bit damp and dark because we didn’t seem to get as much sunlight that you would receive on the lakeview side….and who wouldn’t want a view of the gorgeous lake!

Activities

One of the best parts of this resort was all the activities to choose from. They have their own water sports facility that all guests can use for free. Activities include paddle boarding, canoeing, pedal boats, windsurfing and kayaks. 

The private beach was beautiful with loads of lounge chairs for people to sit. The beach included a beach volleyball court off to the side, which our family used often.

The property also has tennis courts and a basketball court, which the little kids in our family loved. Every evening the resort would put on a campfire down at the lake and one near the pool where the kids could roast marshmallows.

As the resort is is open in all seasons, they have 2 pools. One is an indoor pool that can be used year round and an outdoor pool for warm weather.

They have an amazing games room for all ages that includes a pool table, foosball, air hockey and all kinds of video games. You can keep the kids entertained in there for hours.

The resort also has a small gym that includes a few weights, a treadmill, a stationary bike and an elliptical as well as a sauna.

Hidden Valley has one restaurant where we ate all our meals. They were wonderful and able to accommodate our whole family and seat us all together every evening for dinner. The menu had lots of choices and a separate kids menu.

Overall, I would highly recommend this resort as a fabulous family vacation. We were there for a total of four days and I was sad to leave. The staff were professional and kind and very patient with our large group of 35.

There were many choices of activities to keep everyone engaged and entertained. The food was delicious and the rooms were comfortable. If you’re in Canada, I highly recommend you checking it out!