Taboo Muskoka Resort & Golf occupies one of Lake Muskoka’s loveliest stretches of shore, a few minutes north of Gravenhurst — and people have been holidaying on this exact spot for a century. Guests first arrived in 1926 at the Muskoka Beach Inn; from 1959 the property was the beloved Muskoka Sands, and it took the Taboo name after its golf course made the name famous. Part of the Great Gulf Group since 1984, it’s now a boutique-style lakeside resort of some 60 rooms and suites.
The days here arrange themselves: a private sandy beach on Lake Muskoka, pools, tennis courts, fitness facilities, and an Adventure Centre running guided hikes and evening bonfires. Dining runs from the Boathouse Restaurant (its menu created in partnership with Chef Mark McEwan) to the casual Fireside Food Truck and drinks at Bar 19.
Golf made Taboo’s name — the Ron Garl-designed championship course, opened in 2002, ranked among Canada’s finest — and the resort is now investing in that legacy: the course is being rebuilt from the ground up as a completely reimagined layout, while the historic 9-hole Sands course, a Stanley Thompson design from the 1930s, remains part of the property’s story. About 90 minutes from Toronto, Taboo is where old Muskoka keeps reinventing itself.