Flowerpot Island near Tobermory, Ontario, is one of the most beautiful and unique places in Ontario.
The island, part of the Fathom Five National Marine Park, is famous for its rock columns that resemble flowerpots – narrower at the bottom and wider at the top.
We had visited years before but had never disembarked onto the island so this year, we went for a visit.
There are two companies in Tobermory that operate ferries to Flowerpot Island, The Blue Heron Company and Bruce Anchor Cruises. While either tour company will get you there and back safely, we chose Blue Heron for our visit. Their website shows how many tickets are available for the time slots of each day and they have ample free parking around the docks for your convenience.
On the way to Flowerpot Island, you’ll do some scenic cruising along the way to view a couple of shipwrecks.
The Sweepstakes was a two-masted wooden schooner built in Burlington, Ontario, back in 1867. It was originally damaged off Cove Island and towed towards Big Tub Harbour in Tobermory. Unfortunately, the damage was too severe and the boat sank. It’s too close to shore for the boat to really motor over it so it’s something that can only be seen in the distance.
The second shipwreck was a wooden passenger steamer ship called The City of Grand Rapids. It caught fire in Little Tub Harbour in 1907, and the ship was towed to open waters so the fire wouldn’t spread to the rest of the harbour. It appears to be just under the surface as you pass over top. Although ethereal to look at resting on the harbour floor beneath the shimmering waters, I wasn’t a big fan of seeing these as I think they have been far to commercialized and quite frankly, I feel badly for the residents who own homes along the shores of Little Tub Harbour having to put up with dozens of tour boats visiting these wrecks daily with loudspeakers explaining what guests are looking at. Multiple boats passed us in either direction during our fifteen minute detour and the harbour is pretty small.
I speak from experience because a friend of mine owns several parcels of land in the harbour and has a dock right on the harbour. This is the part of tourism that I don’t care for…
From there, it’s off to Flowerpot.
Coming up on the north side is quite the sight. It’s where you first get an idea of just how clear the waters are in Georgian Bay.
Look at that water. The incredible shale steps which slowly descend make these rocky beaches an absolute joy to play in. I can only imagine the flights of fancy this young boy above is having.
There are two main hiking trails on Flowerpot Island: the Loop Trail and the Marl Trail.
The Loop Trail is the main trail on Flowerpot Island and starts from Beachy Cove, where the boat will leave you off. The hike is rocky at the beginning if you choose to go in the direction away from the flowerpots, which is what we did because we knew we’d be hot near the end of the hike and could cool our feet and have lunch sitting in the water.
Most people just get off the boat and walk to the flowerpots so the trail was mostly quiet. The trail led uphill for the first half of the hike then up some very nice stairs in a very steep section near the center of the island before heading downwards towards the lighthouse.
Once you arrive at the Lighthouse, there is a nice beach area there with several hidden coves. Now knowing this, we had not brought our swimwear but part of that was because I didn’t want to carry around bathing suits and towels for the entire hike but if we were going to visit again, I think that would be something worth doing. The waters are exquisitely gorgeous.
Like many of the trails on the Bruce Peninsula these days, I found Flowerpot too crowded even on a Monday morning once we got back to the beach area but the hike itself was nice.
Once we settled into a spot which seemed like we could have a bit of distance, we found a crack in the shale where we could sit and have lunch on a dry section of shale with our feet in the cool waters, which was very pleasant.
There are two flowerpot-shaped rock pillars along this shore. They have naturally eroded over many, many years and formed when ancient glaciers froze and thawed over and over again, as well as from the waves crashing against the shore, which explains their being washed away at the base of each flowerpot formation. That said, it is almost impossible to get a shot of them without people in the photo because of the lack of visitor etiquette, which I have found is really starting to become more prevalent on our hikes now and in our travel in general. It seems to me that lately, wherever we visit, I have to ask people if they would mind getting out of a possible photo after a certain amount of time of others can take their own photos and I do find that annoying but maybe that’s because I am a fussy photographer.
All said, Yim and I try and find private little areas for ourselves but on this hike, there were people everywhere around us so I doubt we will return. More than likely, I’ll try and find a spot that is harder for people to get to that we can enjoy quietly by ourselves. Maybe I won’t write about it either 🙂
The ride back to Tobermory only takes 20 minutes and even though I may come across as being negative overall, I’m glad we visited and would recommend it for anyone who is interested. The visual beauty is worth being there.
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