Mount Sunapee (or Sunapee Mountain on federal maps) is a mountain ridge in the towns of Newbury and Goshen in western

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, United States. Its highest peak, at the north end of the mountain, is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. The mountain has three secondary peaks, White Ledges at ; North Peak at ; and South Peak at . The north end of the mountain, including the summit, is within Mount Sunapee State Park, which encompasses and is home to the popular Mount Sunapee Resort. The mountain extends south to Pillsbury State Park in the towns of Goshen and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. The entire mountain ridge is traversed by the

Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway The Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway (MSG) is a hiking trail that traverses the highlands of southern New Hampshire from Mount Monadnock in Jaffrey to Mount Sunapee in Newbury. Located approximately from the city of Concord, New Hampshire, the tra ...

, a hiking trail that links the summit of Sunapee with that of

Mount Monadnock Mount Monadnock, or Grand Monadnock, is a mountain in the town of Jaffrey, New Hampshire. It is the most prominent mountain peak in southern New Hampshire and is the highest point in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, Cheshire County. It lies sou ...

, to the south in the town of

Jaffrey, New Hampshire Jaffrey is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,320 at the 2020 census. The main village in town, where 3,058 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the Jaffrey census-designated place (CDP) a ...

. Also crossing the summit in an east–west route is a section of the Sunapee- Ragged- Kearsarge Greenway, a trail linking ten towns in west-central New Hampshire as it circles the Lake Sunapee region and crosses the summits of the three mountains for which it is named. The two Greenway trails meet at Lake Solitude and use the same trail to the summit.

Hydrology

The ridgeline of Sunapee Mountain forms the divide between the

Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into M ...

and

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges into Long Isl ...

watersheds. Lake Solitude, a body of water, lies just southeast of the White Ledges summit, at an elevation of . The lake flows into Andrew Brook, a tributary of the

Warner River The Warner River is a river located in central New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Contoocook River, part of the Merrimack River watershed. The Warner River begins at the outlet of Todd Lake in Bradford, New Hampshire, ...

in the

watershed. Farther south along the ridge, the east slopes of the mountain drain via the West Branch of the Warner River into the Warner and Merrimack rivers. The northern and western sides of the mountain drain to the Connecticut River. Johnson Brook flows down the north slopes of the mountain, entering

Lake Sunapee Lake Sunapee is located within Sullivan County, New Hampshire, Sullivan County and Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County in western New Hampshire, the United States. It is the fifth-largest lake located entirely in New Hampshire. Th ...

, the outlet of which (the Sugar River) flows west to the Connecticut in Claremont. On the western slopes of the mountain, Gunnison Brook, Blood Brook, and Baker Brook flow to the South Branch of the Sugar River. The southwestern end of the mountain drains via Cherry Brook into the headwaters of the

Ashuelot River The Ashuelot River is a tributary of the Connecticut River, approximately long, in southwestern New Hampshire in the United States. It drains a mountainous area of , including much of the area known as the Monadnock Region. It is the longest tr ...

, which reaches the Connecticut River near the

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

border.

U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on March ...

7.5-minute topographic map series: Newport, NH (1984)

Recreation

Skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

and snowboard riding are popular winter activities at Mount Sunapee Resort & Ski Area. The ski area lies within Mount Sunapee State Park, but in 1998 the state leased the ski area of the park to be operated by Tim and Dianne Mueller, who own Okemo Mountain Resort. In 2018 the operations contract was bought by

Vail Resorts Vail Resorts, Inc. is an American mountain resort company headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. The company is divided among divisions that own and operate 42 mountain resorts in four countries, along with hotels, lodging, condominiums, and gol ...

. The state park's extensive trail system is used in all seasons for hiking and in winter for snowshoeing. The park is linked to Pillsbury State Park and southern New Hampshire by the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway and to the ten-town Lake Sunapee region by the "emerald necklace" of the Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge (SRK) Greenway which connects Mt. Sunapee to Wadleigh State Park in

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

and to Winslow and Rollins State Parks on Mount Kearsarge in Warner and Wilmot. From the ski area parking, the Summit Trail travels along the western slope to the summit, where it meets the Solitude Trail for a walk to Lake Solitude and White Ledges. The Solitude Trail then links to several trails, notably the popular Andrew Brook Trail and the steeper Newbury Trail, both heading eastward, and to the M-S Greenway as it heads south along Sunapee Mountain toward Pillsbury State Park.

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Mount Sunapee has a

warm-summer humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded at Mount Sunapee was on July 10, 1988, while the coldest temperature recorded was on January 8, 1968. A weather station is located near the base of the mountain.

References

External links

Mount Sunapee State Park

Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway Coalition
{{clear Sunapee, Mount Sunapee, Mount Sunapee, Mount Sunapee, Mount Tourist attractions in Merrimack County, New Hampshire Tourist attractions in Sullivan County, New Hampshire Newbury, New Hampshire Goshen, New Hampshire