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 from the Asquam House, Holderness, NH](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Squam_Lake_from_the_Asquam_House%2C_Holderness%2C_NH.jpg)
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 Island
U.S. Board on Geographic Names: Geographic Names Information System
/ref>
See also
* List of lakes in New Hampshire
This is a list of lakes and ponds in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services lists 944 lakes and impoundments in their ''Official List of Public Waters''. The water bodies that are listed include nat ...
* Rockywold–Deephaven Camps
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