The first known tourists attracted to the lakes came not long after Bobs Lake was flooded. In 1872, the K&P railroad was completed along the western shore of Bobs Lake to Tichborne, providing travelers with easier access to the lakes. Well into the 1920s the roads to the lakes, which were intended for horse-drawn vehicles, made travel by auto difficult or not possible in some places. However, when word got out that there was good fishing to be had, the numbers of fishers from Ontario and the USA increased. Some brought tents to stay in for a few weeks, and others bought land in remote places along the shores where they could build humble “camps”; either a cedar log cabin with a fieldstone fireplace or alternatively, a framed cabin with a wood-stove. Some of these original cabins still remain around the lakes.