The Okanagan Valley is dotted with lakes big and small, from Osoyoos Lake to Vaseux Lake, but there’s only one that has dots of its own. Spotted Lake, which lives up to its name each summer, is located northwest of Osoyoos and is considered one of the region’s must-see locations for its naturally occurring phenomenon.
Each summer, as the lake water evaporates, briny mineral pools are left behind, full of calcium, sodium sulphates, and magnesium sulphate that runs into the lake from the surrounding hills. As the summer heats up, these pools are left behind, creating dots on the surface of the water. Notice the unique colors of each dot, which depend on the mineral concentration in that particular pool. As the lake water slowly evaporates, the pools shift in size and color, ranging from blue to green to yellow.
The lake, originally known by the First Nations of the Okanagan Valley as Kliluk, has long been considered a sacred place. The First Nations people believed that each circle held different healing and medicinal properties. The land around the lake was privately owned for 40 years, but was purchased by the federal government in 2001 for the benefits and uses of the Okanagan Nation. Learn more at the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Center, run by the Indigenous people of the Okanagan and providing in-depth information about the history and significance of Spotted Lake.
Plan to see the lake from one of the vantage points along Highway 3. A fence protects the culturally and ecologically sensitive lake and its shores as part of the Okanagan Grasslands Protected Area. The best time to see the spots is in the hot summer months when the lake water has evaporated.
Find Spotted Lake northwest of Osoyoos in the eastern Similkameen Valley of British Columbia.
