Inverhuron is a small Ontario provincial park located on the shores of Lake Huron near Tiverton. The Park opened in 1956, but the construction of a Heavy Water plant at the adjacent Bruce Nuclear Power posed safety concerns.
Ontario Hydro purchased the park from the Ministry of Natural Resources and by 1976 overnight camping was completely phased out. In 1998, Bruce Nuclear decommissioned its Heavy Water plant, and in 2005, the park re-opened for overnight camping.
A ghost Town In the Making
Inverhuron, first settled in the 1840s and over the years boasted saw and grist mills, a quarry, lime kilns, large grain warehouses, and numerous tradesmen. At its height, Inverhuron had a population of around 500 people.
In 1882 fire struck the warehouses and the pier. The community experienced a devastating financial loss and many of the businesses shut down or relocated elsewhere. Fire struck again in 1887 and sealed the small town’s fate. Technically, It is now a ghost town.
Much of the early town site is now located within the boundaries of the Inverhuron Provincial Park. You can find remnants of the mill, interpretative display and a number of artifacts on display. If you look hard among the dunes, you may find charred rubble from the two fateful fires.
The Park
We popped in for a day visit and a hike of the River trail.
The trail follows the river,
through the forest with several points of interest along the way.
We stopped at the site where the mill used to be. All that is left is a plaque.
We didn’t see any wild life, but we did find lots of evidence that the beavers in this area are happy.
We then went to the beach and walked past the park’s boundary where we finally pulled out the metal detector.
Let’s just say that we found absolutely nothing on our first try.
Tony did find on the surface a silver plated spoon minus it’s plating. I does look very old. Maybe a remnant of the town, or perhaps washed ashore from a sunken ship?
Although we didn’t find an actual treasure, we did find a baby turtle desperate to get to safety.
We left the park and drove by Bruce Power again,
In Pre-Covid times you could take a tour of the power plant. Sadly, we drove by the road leading up to the plant and said yet again “we’ll have to come back after this is all over.”
Next we visit Teeswater, which will be the last stop of this trip. This short excursion proved yet again, how much there is still to see in Ontario!
A great post. It is always sad when a town becomes a ghost town. Liked that baby turtle – such a rough shell. Looks like you have found another great place to visit.
Thanks, Peggy! It is sad to see towns disappear, but the bright side is that it sustains archaeology 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Good read, thanks.
Thanks! And thanks for coming along 🙂
We all need more tranquil river trails and chance encounters with baby turtles in our lives. Great article, guys!
Right? Thanks for joining in!
The river walk looks very enjoyable. Thanks.
Thanks for coming along, Linda!
Interesting spot. I love the way that nature continues to exist where humans abandon.
Yes! And it happens very quickly. We tried to find any remnants of the mill, but the only clues left were an embankment of some sort, and something structural in the water. We would have passed right by it if it wasn’t for the plaque.
I once saw a very interesting documentary on Chernobyl. It showed how nature has adapted and thrived although the place is contaminated. The power of nature never fails to impress me.
yeah, I saw that documentary too! It really is fascinating. I always think of new ruins discovered in the jungles. They are so well hidden under the vegetation that you can pass by a temple and completely miss it.
I’m always fascinated by the history of ghost towns … the boom and bust. Ontario is a huge Province with not doubt plenty to explore. We honeymooned in western Ontario just south of Kenora. Beautiful country … in the summer!
Kenora is beautiful place to honeymoon! Did you go to Lake of the Woods? And yes, I love ghost towns too.
No, we did not go to Lake of the Woods. We rented a cabin at a very small resort on Andy’s Lake. After that, our summer vacations were spent camping and canoeing the Boundary Waters Canoe Area on the Gunflint Trail along the border paddling between our two countries. One minute we were in the U.S. the next were were in Canadian waters. Great memories and beautiful landscape!
That sounds amazing!
Looks like a nice walk along the river, and nice job spotting that turtle. I am guessing a lot of people are saying the same thing about wanting to go back somewhere when all restrictions are lifted. Let’s hope that days is in the not too distant future…
Amen to that! We are all little turtles looking for our safe waters!
how true… 🙂
I don’t remember a metal detector appearing in any of your other trips. Have you ever discovered any old coins this way or other interesting finds?
Just the old stove in our backyard 🙂 And you did read it because you told me a story about your friend who lost her ring 🙂
It is good to go and see the history of a place. There is always at least one story to be told. Thanks for sharing. Allan
That is very true and you usually don’t have to look too hard!
I agree with you, there are things to see in Ontario beyond Niagara Falls 🙂
Haha, absolutely!
Very cool. I love out of the way places like this. The spoon is a great find.
We were very excited about the spoon. It will go well with the rusty stove that we dug up in the backyard 🙂
Aww, that baby turtle. What a wonderful post.
Thank you. It was really adorable. I hope it made it to safety!
I love ghost towns. Cool you found something. And sweet turtle. Love them
It was fun to discover all of them!
This park is on my itinerary for when we visit Lake Huron over the summer. That’s too bad that the power plant is no longer offering tours due to COVID-19. The list of places and things to do post-COVID is certainly growing. But you’re right, there is still so much to see and do in Ontario.
P.S. I laughed when I read that you busted out your metal detector. That’s too funny. My brother-in-law bought one years ago and always takes it camping with him. He hasn’t found much, but it did help him locate his wedding ring when he lost it in the sand on our site one summer.
Looking forward to read about your summer trip to Lake Huron! Oh, I can see in my future early morning walks on the beach with the metal detector in one hand and a bag for beach glass in the other. This way, I am bound to find something 🙂
Did you visit Philosopher’s Wool on your travels at Inverhuron and Tiverton Margie? During this Covid winter we are hiking the Bruce Rail Trail which goes from Clifford to Southampton, Port Elgin and almost to Bruce Nuclear Plant. So far we have done Mildmay to Cargill. It takes a while because our hikes are always there and back, but we did manage Walkerton to Mildmay and back one afternoon! More to discover!!!
Your hikes are so impressive and inspirational, Kristin! If you ever want to write about your hikes, I’ll be happy to feature them here 🙂 I looked up Philosopher’s Wool, and it looks like yet another place to check out! So many places were closed for visitors when we were there so we will really need to go back. I have a secret to share with you..we are on the hunt for a house in the area!
That would be amazing Margie! You guys are our kind of adventurers!
🙂
How good it is to see the baby turtle and signs of the sharp teeth of a beaver. What, roughly, is the size of the tree they gnawed through?
It was really cool! I would say that the tree was roughly 8-10″ across. They can chew down bigger trees!