Killaloe the perfect cottage country escape from Ottawa - nature, culture and history on Algonquin Park's doorstep

Located south of Algonquin Park, Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards Township is a blend of northern landscape of pine and rocky outcrops, and rich forested uplands, pristine lakes and meandering rivers and streams bordered by red and silver maple trees.  

It’s where Ottawans come to spend their summers at the cottage and where about 2,550 people call home year-round, scattered across the township in and around the small communities of Killaloe, Wilno, Round Lake Centre and Bonnechere.  

Forestry, power generation, recreational services and tourism fuel the economy, with local artists, craftspeople and musicians playing an important role as daytrippers and cottagers explore the township’s treasures. You’ll find three provincial parks and four lakes and rivers here, paradise found for canoeists, anglers, campers and hikers.  

It was the area’s abundant natural resources — and the promise of free land — that brought settlers here in the mid-1800s, a mixture of French-Canadians, Irish, Poles, Kashubians and Germans.  

A railway ran through it

Killaloe, named after a village in Ireland, is the heart of the township. Located just east of Golden Lake, Killaloe was built on the lumber trade, flourishing when lumber baron J.R. Booth built the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway in the late 1800s.  

The original railway trestle over Brennan’s Creek, in Station Park, is now a covered bridge and a community landmark. Killaloe’s past is also marked in the red brick walkway at Station Park, built in 1994 on the site of the old railway station, where you’ll find two grey strips to symbolize steel rails that once lay over the path. Nearby, several century-old buildings, including an 1896 railway hotel, are other reminders of the past.  

Killaloe’s agricultural history is remembered at the Hoch Farm, the only designated heritage site in the township. Originally a 200-acre land grant offered to Europeans willing to immigrate to Renfrew County, it was the farm of Wilhelm and Amelia Hoch. You can visit the restored farmhouse, which was opened as a museum in 2005. The site of the large barn is now a local Saturday market, open from July to September.  

Plans are in the works to add a building on the site to permanently house the non-profit Stone Fence Theatre Company, a troupe dedicated to original, locally-written theatrical and musical productions based on the area’s history. Still homeless but based in Killaloe, the group has performed at venues across the Ottawa Valley, including outdoors at the Hoch Farm.  

For many years, Killaloe was known across Canada for its weather and radio station, which operated from 1938 until 1972, as part of a country-wide chain of sites designed for aircraft communication. A small airport there, built in 1952 as a Cold War airstrip for interceptors, ceased operations in 1988.  

Today, Killaloe is where cottagers and locals stop to shop for supplies, grab a bite to eat or check out the local arts and crafts. Outdoor recreation is big here, with fishing topping the list of activities in summer.

Water, water everywhere!

Golden Lake, on Killaloe’s doorstep, is known for its smallmouth bass and northern pike fishing. The lake reportedly got its name from the flecks of pyrite or “fool's gold” that can be seen glinting on the bottom of the lake near the shore. East of Golden Lake is Lake Doré, which is French for “golden”.  

The Bonnechere River flows through Golden Lake and Round Lake to the north. It’s around this lake that you’ll find the tiny hamlets of Round Lake Centre and Bonnechere. The township’s Sheryl Boyle Park, named after a Canadian Olympian and slalom canoeist, is also located on Round Lake, as are Bonnechere Provincial Park on the northwest shore and Foy Provincial Park, a day-use facility that is open to swimming and hiking, on the eastern shore.  

Bonnechere Provincial Park is designated a recreational use facility, and you’ll find a beach and playground here, along with campsites. This is also the location for the township’s six-week summer swim program. North of here is Bonnechere River Provincial Park, a 23-kilometre stretch that begins at Algonquin Park. There are no services here, but the park is popular with skilled canoeists and wilderness campers.  

You’ll find the small community of Round Lake Centre on the southern shore of Round Lake. There’s a school and a church here — St. Casimir’s serves both locals and cottagers — along with a recreation centre.  

South of here, and west of Killaloe, is Wilno, the first Polish settlement in Canada. You’ll find roadside shrines, crosses and historic names on rural mailboxes on your way to Wilno. Once here, a stunning view of the valley below is on offer from St. Mary’s Catholic Church, which is perched over Highway 60. 

Chicken supper for the soul ...

Don’t be surprised if you hear some folks here speaking a language you don’t understand — some descendants of early settlers still speak a dialect originally spoken by the Kashubian Poles. Those settlers are honoured each year during celebrations at Wilno’s Heritage Park, which is located just outside the township in the neighbouring Township of Madawaska Valley.  

If you visit Wilno on the Labour Day weekend, you’re in for a treat! That’s when the annual Chicken Supper is held. Join about 2,500 others who are served authentic Kaszebe–Polish fare described as “original settler cuisine.”  

The Polish immigrants who settled in the Wilno area brought with them not only a rich cultural heritage, but also a deep religious tradition. Since there was no Catholic church close by in the early days, the settlers erected large wooden crosses at the intersections of main roads and gathered there for private prayers on Sundays and holy days. You can still see some of these crosses today, from the Opeongo Line where the first Polish pioneers settled, northward to Wilno and up to the Paugh Lake area.  

While here, be sure to visit the interesting galleries and studios operated by artists, photographers, craftspeople and furniture makers who live in Wilno.  

Thinking of buying a cottage or four-season home in Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards Township? Recently listed waterfront property in the township included a two-bedroom, one-bathroom wooden four-season cabin on the Bonnechere River near Round Lake for $199,900. For $229,999, you could have a two-bedroom mobile home on Golden Lake near Killaloe.

At the upper end of the budget, $499,000 will buy you a three-bedroom, two-bath home on a three-acre lot on the Bonnechere River between Round Lake and Golden Lake.