There is a paved boat ramp on the northwest shore owned by the Public Access Board and managed by Forests and Parks and Fisheries and Game.

[1][4] A portion of the Appalachian Trail crosses over a breached mill dam along the northern inlet.

This hardness and alkalinity suggest that the lake generally safe from the effects of acid rain.

[9] Lake Buel was rarely used for recreation until the 1870s when it became a major summer attraction for the outlying area.

In 1875, picnickers were caught in a sudden rain storm, which prompted the construction of a dining hall, the lake's first building.

[20] In 1952, Gibson's was leased to Sonny Zanetti, who renovated the boats, including the Minnehaha, which no longer worked but was kept on display at the main dock.

The property was sold again in 1963; the Blue Gill was razed, and a new restaurant was built, which included a bar and a second story dance floor.

[33] Miami Beach, an amusement and swimming resort, opened on the north shore of the lake about 1925.

The upstairs had a jukebox, a big front porch, a dance hall, refreshment room and kitchen.

The motel was then converted into apartments and renamed first the Leeside Lodge, and then Blue Heron Landing.

[36] The first private cabin on Lake Buel was built in 1881 by Dr. Willard Rice, a Great Barrington dentist.

[37] In 1894, the lease was transferred for $1 to Charles Booth and John England who renovated the building, raising height of the roof, adding a kitchen, and enlarging the porch around a birch tree.

[17] Pre-1920s private cottage names included: Camp Tee-Hee, Wildwood, Dewdrop Inn, Brookmede, Woodycrest, Sunset View, Lake Breeze, High Lawn, The Maples, Kamp Kozy, Highwood Hall, Bay View, Camp Runamuck, Merry Wood, Sunnybank and Kamp Kontent.

[20] Between 1933 and 1941, Gibson sold over a dozen lots of varying sizes and shapes in the lakeside community, and seven more by 1947.

The first steamboat in Berkshire County,[42] it had a 6’ diameter wheel, a 14-hp engine, a 7’-high boiler, and could carry 200 people on its two decks.

[50] To-Ho-Ne used a system of tribal government “to maintain discipline and safety.”[48] In 1924, 200 acres (0.81 km2) were purchased to expand the camp.

The camp had a woodworking shop, held Saturday night plays, Wednesday hikes and staged a season-ending award ceremony.

[53] Activities at Ted Mack included swimming, boating, weaving, music lessons and pony rides.

Deerwood offered athletics, aquatics, arts, ham radio lessons, crafts, foreign languages and photography.

[58] The Fokine Ballet Camp leased Littlecrest for eight weeks each summer from 1957 to 1960 before relocating to a site in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Black crappie, bluegill, brook trout, brown bullhead, brown trout, chain pickerel, largemouth bass, pumpkinseed, rainbow trout, rock bass, white perch, yellow perch,[5] white sucker, minnows, northern pike (introduced in 1979 [62]), bridle shiner, common shiner, fallfish, golden shiner, and[63] tiger muskies (introduced in 1997[1]).

[67] Speckled alder, red maple, red osier dogwood, yellow birch, paper birch, American hornbeam, tamarack larch, American elm, eastern white pine,[69] black willow, and[70] eastern cottonwood.

[75] Harlequin blueflag, garden angelica, rough avens, curled dock, upright bedstraw, and[74] common milkweed.

[70] Goldenrod sp., Joe-Pye weed,[73] field thistle, meadow buttercup,[70] true forget-me-not, and common jewelweed.

[73] Nightshade (invasive)[73] Field horsetail[73] Lake Buel suffers from an infestation of milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum).

This infestation creates a large oxygen demand in the lake, limiting cold water habitat.

A number of lakes around the area responded by closing their ramps, including Stockbridge Bowl.

[78] A non-native invasive species, zebra mussels were originally native to the lakes of southeast Russia.

[82] Source:[81] The first person known to swim the length of the lake was Helen Tobey, 17, who, in 1910, swam from Turner's to Gibson's (about 1+1⁄2 miles) in 70 minutes.

[84] Michael Danek of Westfield, Massachusetts caught a state record northern pike in January 1987; it weighed 32 pounds, 4 ounces.