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WATERY VIEWS: Stroll along the wharf at Salmon Arm on Shuswap Lake, where 150 bird species make their home. —Laura Rae photo

RED WATER: The salmon run at Adams River is the largest in the world. —Kelly Roskie photo

From sunny beaches to charming walking trails, Shuswap Lake and its waterfront communities boast a wealth of attractions.

Tourists from around the world will flock to the region’s Roderick Haig- Brown Provincial Park in October to view one of B.C.’s greatest natural wonders: the salmon run. The park’s Adams River literally runs red as millions of glistening salmon make their way upstream to their native spawning grounds. With salmon counts running as high as 3.5 million in peak years—which occur every four years, the next being in 2010—the sockeye salmon run at Adams River is the largest in the world. The exact nature of this spectacle remains somewhat of a mystery. Though there are many theories as to how salmon manage to navigate to their native riverbeds, none have been entirely proven, and the annual salmon pilgrimage is still one of the natural world’s greatest mysteries.

While the salmon run makes fall the most popular time to visit, the shorelines of the Shuswap abound with wildlife year round. Salmon Arm Bay is renowned for its birdwatching opportunities, with 150 species inhabiting the area—from red-tailed hawks to yellow-headed blackbirds. A waterfowl particularly worth noting along the bay is the western grebe, which is known to have a breeding colony in only one other region of B.C. This beautiful bird is sometimes referred to as the swan grebe because of its long, graceful neck. Keen birdwatchers will enjoy observing mating western grebes in the throes of their courtship ritual, an elaborate dance performed along the lake’s surface.

Visitors, however, need not travel far to encounter some of the birds of the region. Grouse, an indigenous chicken-like fowl, can often be seen strutting their mottled feathers right in town.