former Highway 121 before turning southeast towards Tory Hill. There it encounters the former Highway 503, and through traffic must turn east. A short distance later traffic must turn southeast at an intersection with former Highway 648 near Wilberforce. Highway 118 continues east in a roughly straight line, encountering Highway 648 a second time before turning south to Cardiff. The highway ends a short distance later at Highway 28 in Paudash. History Colonization roads The route of Highway 118, including portions that are no longer part of the highway, takes its roots from the early colonization roads that were built by the government of Upper Canada and later Ontario throughout the mid-1800s. The highway traces the route of the Lake Joseph Road, the Peterson Road, the North West Road, and the Monck Road. The Lake Joseph Road was completed between the Musquosh Road at Glen Orchard and the Muskoka Road at Bracebridge in 1874. The Peterson Road, meanwhile, was built east of Bracebridge through Carnarvon and beyond between 1858 and 1863. Although much of it fell into disuse within a decade, Highway 118 roughly traces its route between Bracebridge and West Guilford. The North West Road was built during the same period, connecting Haliburton Village with the Peterson Road at West Guilford. The Monck Road was built soon after the other roads, with the route being surveyed between Orillia and Bancroft in 1864–65 and construction taking place between 1866 and 1873. Highway 118 follows or roughly traces the eastern portion of the Monck Road, between Tory Hill and Paudash. Provincial highway The present route of Highway 118 was pieced together over several decades, and includes none of the original highway designated in 1955. The original routing of Highway 118 began at Highway 69 in Glen Orchard and travelled to Highway 35 at Dorset, with a concurrency along Highway 11 north of Bracebridge. The Department of Highways, predecessor to the modern Ministry of Transportation, assumed the road between Bracebridge and Dorset on November16, 1955, while the road between Glen Orchard and Bracebridge was assumed one week later on November23. This routing of Highway 118 remained in place until 1974, when the portion between Highway 11 and Dorset was redesignated as Highway 117, reducing the length of Highway 118 to . By 1978 a short extension south of Bracebridge to Highway 11 along Ecclestone Drive was added to the highway, bringing its