Potholes Provincial Park : A Mystery with Twists and Turns

It was a dark and stormy day on the desolate road between Nipigon and Hearst.  Tired, with one eye on the road, the options were the ditch or a lonely thirty second ring road.  Choosing the latter, we retreated from the car to stretch our legs unbeknownst what awaited our weary bodies on the trail ahead.  Stumbling up the root ridden trail under the ominous tree cover we came to an earthly hole in the Canadian shield.

Glacial Pothole or Finnish hot tub?

Now, either there is a bend in space time along the root ridden trail, a pothole porthole, or aliens abducted Bev and I and altered our memories.  Because, on another lonely long highway numbered 101 between Wawa and Chapleau there is a dank day use park named Potholes Provincial Nature Reserve and, as far as we know, Bev and I have never visited this place.  We did however heave ourselves laboriously to a Potholes Provincial Park on highway 11. Where were we on highway 11? No one knows because it is not on any map, I've looked, and we are both convinced it was on highway 11 not 101.  It must be a conspiracy of cartographers or a binary bizarro-world.  The potholes were created when bones and rocks are carried by water and the water hits a eddy where mainly the rocks wear away a circular hole in the Canadian shield.

An ancient toilet?

There is usually a boulder bed (where boulders sleep) near these potholes where the glaciers have littered horribly.

Lazy Boulders or Dirty Glaciers, I can't decide.

Notice the highway on the map.

I am %100 certain we saw this just off highway 11, but this map shows it on highway 101.

The only thing wrong with this is the number on the highway.

And again this map points out of the parking lot and back to highway 101, but after running back to our car in fear, at the end of our parking lot was only highway 11 and the desolate boreal forest.  I truly cannot wait until we return to either of these places in future. Or maybe a rock carried by water may hit an eddy and make it all disappear.

Hiking and Activities:  One hike of a half of an hour return to see the sight.

Park Class:  Nature Reserve

Recommended Length of Stay:  One hour if you want to see the Potholes and have a half hour picnic lunch as well.

Overall Impression:  It is just worth a peek.  If you are going by and need a break from driving I would check it out, but otherwise...  Now maybe the one on highway 101 is different.

Rating out of 14:  #11 is where I'm placing this one because of the highway it is on.  It's great if you are into geology or glaciers.  But it is only about one geology/glacier element.  We have only seen two day use parks and they couldn't be more different -- one good and the other, however interesting, less so.  Or is it? Man all this going around in circles is making me dizzy.

In Circular Descending Order:

Campgrounds

#2   Algonquin

#3   Quetico
#5   Bon Echo

#19 Sandbanks

#21 Neys

#22 Wakami Lake

#23 Nagagamisis

#26 Pancake Bay

#29 Chutes

#30 White Lake

#40 Mississagi

#43 Long Point

#49 Marten River

#51.5 Silent Lake

#52 Restoule

#53 Point Farms

#56 Inverhuron

#58 Rene Brunelle

#69 Sibbald Point

#82 Rainbow Falls

#91 Turkey Point

#92 Bronte Creek

Day Use
#1   Petroglyphs
#11 Potholes

Potholes?  I wish we brought our fishing poles.

P.S. Bev and I just returned (2017) from a whirlwind trip to tumultuous Thunder Bay and we took the 101 on the way to our next park and guess what we found?  As if an apparition Potholes Provincial Park appeared and was precisely where the map said it would be.  What a silly bunt -- I'm loosing my mind.