Buse Lake Ramble

Buse Lake Protected Area is a 228 hectare BC Parks area in Barnhartvale. It includes Buse Lake and some of Buse Hill and the forested steep terrain in-between. Buse Lake is accessible from Barnhartvale Road.and Buse Hill is best accessed from the Robbins Range Road. Access into the park lands on Buse Hill is through private/leased lands, with permission from the owners, Buse Creek Ranch.

On a grey and wet day in July, I hiked around Buse Lake from Barnhartvale Road, then climbed two of the hills overlooking the lake. The hike around the lake was wet and muddy with recent rainfall feeding the inlet stream (Buse Creek).

The lake is shallow and quite alkaline.

Along the marl shoreline were many brine flies, feeding on the brine shrimp which in turn feed on the blue-green algae in the alkaline lake.

In some years the lake turns magenta/purple.when sulphur bacteria multiply as the lake loses dissolved oxygen late in the year. Follow the link to the article by Rick Howie below for more information.

From the hill on the north side of the lake the basin of the lake surrounded by hills was below the bluff.

From the top of that bluff I had views over a series of rocky hills to the east.

From the top of the hill, I had a good view of the entire lake below. The hike to the top of the rocky bluff was steep, with no trail and loose footing, but the spot at the edge of the bluffs was worth the effort.

In the surrounding hills mariposa lilies were in bloom and a few other summer wildflowers stood apart from grasses, sagebrush, rabbitbrush, and sweet clover.