Hiking the Pot Lake Loop Trail

Pot lake Loop is the shortest of 4 loops withing the Bluff Wilderness trail section. I love how Halifax Trails describes it as “taking 3-4+ hours-3 for exercise and 4 + at a photographer’s pace. Definitely a photographers pace for me. I do take lots of pictures …and lots of breaks!

I have written about my travels and trials along the Bluff Wilderness trails a while ago. My son tried to talk me out of overnighting the first two loops of the trail because it was so rugged.

The Bluff has 30 km of rugged trails.

I went anyway.

This time we decided on a day trip around the Pot Lake. It’s challenging, but really beautiful especially in spots overlooking Pot Lake and Cranberry Lake . We walked from the parking lot under the colorful overpass and across the deceptively easy boardwalk.( I’ve been here before so I know it’s a trick to make you think the hike is easy. ) We hiked the forested section first- turning left at the beginning of the loop and going over the top,then heading back toward the trail head. Doing the forested path first does not mean there are no rocks or roots or granite outcroppings-there are. It’s tiring but very enjoyable.

Approximately 5 km from the trail head is a beautiful section atop some MORE big granite boulders -the ideal picnic spot for lunch, overlooking Cranberry Lake as far away as the highway. (The highway -aka the trail’s end -looks oh so tantalizingly close)

It took us close to 6 hours to complete this 9+km route. We took pictures and stopped plenty to give Susan (that’s me) a rest because she was overheating and not in peak physical condition to put it politely. It was doable. Brings lots of water and food.

The Bluff Wilderness trail is part of the Five Lake Wilderness area. There are 10 hikes total within this 8600 hectares of government land, characterized by a rugged landscape of forests, barrens, wetlands, rivers, and lakes. Find a map of the Five Bridges Wilderness are here .

Getting To the Bluff Trail Parking

Take exit 4 on hwy 103, turn onto the Bay Road (Rt.3) heading back to Halifax, go 2 km to Bay Self-Storage on the right. The Bluff Trail parking lot is immediately afterward. The civic address is #2890. (GPS: 44.666577,-63.762932.)

Note:If you use Google maps, it may take you to a different spot-it did us.

Camping On the Bluff Trails

Camping is not encouraged but it is permitted. There is no camping spots on the Pot Lake Trail. And in fact, only four sites in the entire Bluff Wilderness. They are all Leave No Trace so, leave no trace please. There aren’t any amenities, it’s the wilderness after all. So, toilets, no garbage cans and no fire pits. See campsites on map below