Mazinaw Lake, in the Kawartha Lakes district of eastern Ontario, is one of North American's most magical places. Dominating its eastern shoreline is a mile-long granite cliff rising sheer from the surface of one of the deepest waterbodies on the continent. Running along the base of this gigantic escarpment is a collection of over 200 red-ochre pictographsthe work of long-ago Algonkian hunters, vision-questors and shamans.

It is believed that these mysterious markings gave both Mazinaw Lake and the (Little) Mississippi River, of which it is the headwaters, their names, as "Mazinaw" is derived from the Algonkian words meaning "painted" and "to paint.".

"Massanoga" - as it used to be called - is both a painted place and a place of painting. Since the opening of the picturesque Bon Echo Inn in 1900, this site has attracted countless artists, photographers and writers, and the Rock is one of Canada's most frequently depicted landmarks.

This book is a celebration of Bon Echo and the extraordinary people who ran the Inn, preserved this natural setting for future generations, and made Bon Echo Provincial Park - one of Ontario's most popular camping destinations - possible.