Buse Lake Protected Area

Highlights in this protected area

Buse Lake is a favourite location for birders and naturalists. The lake is known for shorebirds, with some relatively rare species such as American avocets, which are attracted to the rich alkaline shoreline.

The top of Buse Hill offers expansive views of surrounding landscapes of the Thompson Basin. The hike to the top of the hill from the south is relatively short and easy. The north facing terrain above Buse Lake rises steeply through forested slopes to a high cliff face, topped by rocky summits. The 200 meter high cliff formations include a impressive detached rock tower. The steeply sloping terrain on the south side of the park drops down into upper grassland habits on adjacent grazing lease lands.

Local rockhound enthusiasts have collected blue opal from the area immediately adjacent to the park, lying southwest of Buse Lake. While most of the rock hounding activity occurs outside of the park, there is some interest in using the park. Rock hounding activities in the park are confined to low impact rock chipping and surface collecting.

The Park exhibits some of the diversity of rock types found in the Robbins Range, which originate from Cenozoic (Upper Triassic), Mesozoic and Paleozoic eras. The lower portions are comprised of volcanics and the upper slopes are a complex array of basalts, breccia, schists and conglomerates.

Know before you go

Advisories

Review the detailed guides under visit responsibly for more information on staying safe and preserving our natural spaces.

Visit responsibly

Follow these guides to ensure your activities are safe, respectful, and ecologically friendly:

Maps and location

Getting there

Buse Lake Park is located approximately 20 km southeast of Kamloops on the old Vernon Highway. The closest community is Kamloops.

Things to do

Hiking

The top of Buse Hill offers expansive views of surrounding landscapes of the Thompson Basin. The hike to the top of the hill from the south is relatively short and easy. For your own safety and the preservation of the park, obey posted signs and keep to designated trails. Shortcutting trails destroys plant life and soil structure.

Wildlife viewing

Buse Lake is a favorite location for birders and naturalists. The lake is known for shorebirds, with some relatively rare species such as American avocets, which are attracted to the rich alkaline shoreline. The top of Buse Hill offers expansive views of surrounding landscapes of the Thompson Basin. The hike to the top of the hill from the south is relatively short and easy.

Hunting

This park is open to hunting. Please refer to the Hunting and Trapping regulations for more information.

Anyone hunting in British Columbia must comply with BC hunting regulations. To learn more, see the fishing and hunting guide.

About this protected area

Cultural Heritage

First Nations use of the area is unknown, although it is likely that some hunting and food gathering activities occurred. There are no recorded archaeological sites or features in the park.

History

This park was established as part of the Kamloops LRMP in January 2001.

Conservation

The unique water chemistry and high alkalinity of Buse Lake creates special habitat conditions for brine flies, and other aquatic insects and plants that are adapted to salt rich environments. The lake and marl edges attract a variety of waterfowl and shorebirds.

The park lies totally within the Thompson Basin Ecosection and provides a small representative elevational gradient through the PPxh2 and IDFxh2 subzone variants biogeoclimatic zones. The lower portion is mostly grassland with some open ponderosa pine and Douglas fir forests. The mid to upper regions are covered primarily by climax stands of Douglas fir and old Ponderosa Pines with sparse understory of common snowberry, saskatoon and birch-leafed spirea..

The north facing terrain above Buse Lake rises steeply through forested slopes to a high cliff face, topped by rocky summits. The 200 metre high cliff formations include an impressive detached rock tower. The steeply sloping terrain on the south side of the park drops down into upper grassland habits on adjacent grazing lease lands.

The Park exhibits some of the diversity of rock types found in the Robbins Range, which originate from Cenozoic (Upper Triassic), Mesozoic and Paleozoic eras. The lower portions are comprised of volcanics and the upper slopes are a complex array of basalts, breccia, schists and conglomerates.

Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples

BC Parks honours Indigenous Peoples’ connection to the land and respects the importance of their diverse teachings, traditions, and practices within these territories. This park webpage may not adequately represent the full history of this park and the connection of Indigenous Peoples to this land. We are working in partnership with Indigenous Peoples to update our websites so that they better reflect the history and cultures of these special places.

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