[2][4][5][6][7] It is well-known for the Bala Falls, the source of the Moon River, which flows from Lake Muskoka to the Georgian Bay.

Thus, its year-round population of several hundred is increased by thousands of seasonal residents and weekend day-trippers during summer months.

[8][9] Located on the Canadian Shield, it proved unsuitable for farming, and its fortunes declined as logging became less economically viable.

[8][9] Located at the west end of Lake Muskoka, at the foot of Bala Bay, the prominent geographical feature of the town are the many bare outcroppings of the Canadian Shield.

The Cherokee, Islander and Segwun were frequently seen at the dock below the CPR station, and the Ahmic was based on the other side of Bala Bay in Torrance.

A portion of the former steamer dock remains, maintained for many decades by the MNR and today by the Township of Muskoka Lakes.

A small modern station remains just north of the main part of town (run by the Bracebridge detachment part-time).

Until changes in transportation and development led to most seasonal visitors staying in private cottages, Bala offered summer lodging at a large number of tourist resorts over the decades.

Since the 1960s, rock musicians like David Wilcox, Kim Mitchell, The Ramones, April Wine, Burton Cummings and Jeff Healey played at The KEE to Bala.

In the skit, a man on his way to Bala bores his companion to distraction in part by endlessly enumerating the communities' features.

[14] Most recently Bala is home to The New Actor's Colony professional Theatre company who perform seasonally in the summer in the local curling rink.

Once a week in the summer months, students from a nearby water ski school perform aquatic stunts for audiences at a local park.