Gary Megson's side must have thought it was going to be a dream afternoon after substitute Stelios had fired them into the lead just 24 seconds into the second half.
But they took their foot off the pedal and allowed Tottenham back into the game when Steed Malbranque brought the home side level.
With Fulham recording a vital win over Manchester City and Birmingham and Reading also picking up a point, Bolton know they still have it all to do in their final two games of the season if they are to retain their Premier League status but will be pleased they managed to come away with something in north London.
Tottenham dominated the opening exchanges and could have broken the deadlock after 25 minutes when Robbie Keane fired a dipping right-foot shot which flew just past the post.
They came close again just 60 seconds later when Malbranque ran unchallenged towards the Bolton box and drilled a low shot which went inches wide of the post.
Bolton seemed to have all the luck on their side and escaped once again on the stroke of half-time when Jermaine Jenas' free-kick deflected off Gary Cahill and struck his own post.
Whatever Megson said to his Bolton players at half-time seemed to pay off as they snatched an unlikely lead at the start of the second half.
Gretar Steinsson crossed the ball into the box, there was a major mix-up between Radek Cerny and Michael Dawson, and Stelios was on hand to knock the loose ball home.
Bolton failed to hold onto their lead and Tottenham drew level on 52 minutes. Keane produced a lovely turn on the edge of the box and played a superb ball into Malbranque who made no mistake striking a close-range effort past Ali Al-Habsi.
Keane came close again to putting the home side in front on 55 minutes when he was picked out by Dimitar Berbatov in the box but saw his shot beaten out by Al-Habsi.
Al-Habsi was proving to be the hero for Bolton and made another fine save on 65 minutes when he produced a fine save to keep Berbatov's curling shot out.
Bolton were hanging on for their lives and Tottenham blew two golden chances in stoppage time to steal all three points. Substitute Darren Bent saw his header cleared off the line by Danny Guthrie and they came close again just seconds later when Jamie O'Hara's cross found Berbatov who had a free header inside the box but flashed his header over the bar.