Squam Lake is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

located in the Lakes Region of central

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

, United States, south of the White Mountains, straddling the borders of Grafton, Carroll, and Belknap counties. The largest town center on the lake is

Holderness Holderness is an area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, on the north-east coast of England. An area of rich agricultural land, Holderness was marshland until it was drained in the Middle Ages. Topographically, Holderness has more in common wit ...

. The lake is located northwest of much larger

Lake Winnipesaukee Lake Winnipesaukee () is the largest lake in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, located in the Lakes Region at the foothills of the White Mountains. It is approximately long (northwest-southeast) and from wide (northeast-southwest), covering & ...

. It drains via a short natural channel into

Little Squam Lake Little Squam Lake is a water body located in Grafton County in the Lakes Region of central New Hampshire, United States, in the towns of Holderness and Ashland. The lake connects upstream via a short channel to Squam Lake in Holderness. The ...

, and then through a dam at the head of the short

Squam River The Squam River is a river located in central New Hampshire in the United States. The river is the outlet of Squam Lake, the second-largest lake in New Hampshire, and it is a tributary of the Pemigewasset River, which itself is a tributary of the ...

into the Pemigewasset at Ashland. Covering , Squam is the second-largest lake located entirely in New Hampshire. Squam-Lake-2006

Squam Lake from the Asquam House, Holderness, NH

Squam Lake was originally called ''Keeseenunknipee'', which meant "the goose lake in the highlands". The white settlers that followed shortened the name to "Casumpa", "Kusumpy" and/or "Kesumpe" around 1779. In the early 19th century, the lake was given another

Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pre ...

name, ''Asquam'', which means "water". Finally, in the early 20th century, Asquam was shortened to its present version, Squam. Squam Lake is much less commercialized than its neighbor Lake Winnipesaukee, which has waterfront attractions in Meredith, Weirs Beach, and other locations. Unlike the numerous businesses dotting the shores of Winnipesaukee, only a few are present on Squam, and none of them are located on Squam itself (there is an ice cream shop, a general store/marketplace, a restaurant, two

marinas A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ship ...

, and multiple

gas stations A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gaso ...

on Little Squam). The Squam Lakes Association maintains only four boat-launching sites on the entire lake in order to keep it as quiet and private as possible. The 1981 film '' On Golden Pond'' was filmed in the town of Center Harbor on Squam Lake. There are two tour boat services on the lake, both based in Holderness. One is Experience Squam, a private charter, and the other is the

Squam Lakes Natural Science Center Squam Lakes Natural Science Center (SLNSC) is an environmental education center and zoo founded in 1966 and opened to the public on July 1, 1969. The science center is located in Holderness, New Hampshire, United States. The mission of the scienc ...

. Both services show filming locations and items of natural significance. Squam Lake is a nesting site for

common loon The common loon or great northern diver (''Gavia immer'') is a large member of the loon, or diver, family of birds. Breeding adults have a plumage that includes a broad black head and neck with a greenish, purplish, or bluish sheen, blackish ...

s and is a good place to see them in breeding plumage during the summer months. Bald eagles and great blue herons are also known to nest on the lake. The lake is classified as a cold- and warmwater fishery, with observed species including rainbow trout,

landlocked salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon ar ...

lake trout The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, it can also ...

lake whitefish The lake whitefish (''Coregonus clupeaformis'') is a species of freshwater whitefish from North America. Lake whitefish are found throughout much of Canada and parts of the northern United States, including all of the Great Lakes. The lake white ...

, smallmouth and

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, bu ...

chain pickerel The chain pickerel (''Esox niger'') is a species of freshwater fish in the pike family (family Esocidae) of order Esociformes. The chain pickerel and the American pickerel (''E. americanus'') belong to the ''Esox'' genus of pike. Taxonomy Fren ...

horned pout The brown bullhead (''Ameiurus nebulosus'') is a fish of the family Ictaluridae that is widely distributed in North America. It is a species of bullhead catfish and is similar to the black bullhead (''Ameiurus melas'') and yellow bullhead (''Am ...

, and

white perch The white perch (''Morone americana'') is not a true perch but is a fish of the temperate bass family, Moronidae, notable as a food and game fish in eastern North America. In some places it is referred to as "Silver Bass". The name "White per ...

Islands

Squam Lake has about 30 named islands and numerous smaller, unnamed islets. The named islands are: * Basin Island * Birch Island * Bowman Island * Carnes Island * Chocorua (Church) Island * Duck Island * Great Island * Groton Island * High Haith * Hoag Island * Hubble Island * Kate Island * Kent Island * Kimball Island * Laurel Island * Little Loon Island (nesting site to bald eagles in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2012) * Long Island * Loon Island * Merrill Island * Mink Island * Mooney (or Moon) Island * Mouse Island * Otter Island * Perch Island * Potato Island * Sheep Island * Three Sisters (three separate islands) * Utopia Island * Yard IslandU.S. Board on Geographic Names: Geographic Names Information System
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References

External links

Squam Lakes Association

Squam Lake / On Golden Pond visitors' website
* {{Merrimack River Lakes of Carroll County, New Hampshire Lakes of Belknap County, New Hampshire New Hampshire placenames of Native American origin

Islands

See also

References

External links