Squam Lake

Squam Lake
Location	Grafton County, Carroll County, and Belknap County, New Hampshire
Coordinates	43°44′43″N 71°31′34″W
Primary outflows	Squam River
Basin countries	United States
Max. length	7.0 miles
Max. width	4.6 miles
Surface area	6,791 acres
Surface elevation	561 feet
Settlements	Holderness; Sandwich; Moultonborough; Center Harbor

Squam Lake is a lake located in central New Hampshire south of the White Mountains, straddling the borders of Grafton, Carroll, and Belknap Counties. The largest town on the lake is Holderness. The lake is located northwest of much larger Lake Winnipesaukee.

It drains via a short natural channel into Little Squam Lake, and then through a dam at the head of the short Squam River into the Pemigewasset at Ashland. Covering 6,791 acres (27.5 km²), Squam is the second-largest lake located entirely in New Hampshire.

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 1800s, the lake was given another Abenaki name, Asquam, which means "water". Finally, in the early 1900s, Asquam was shortened to its present version, Squam.

The 1981 film On Golden Pond was filmed on Squam Lake. There are two tour boat outfits on the lake, both based in Holderness, that will show visitors where all the filming locations are situated.

Islands

Squam Lake has 28 named islands and numerous smaller, unnamed islets. The named islands are:

• Basin Island
• Birch Island
• Bowman Island
• Chocorua (Church) Island
• Duck Island
• Great Island
• Groton Island
• High Haith (largest island on Squam; 243 acres)
• Hoag Island
• Hubble Island
• Kate Island
• Kent Island
• Kimball Island
• Laurel Island
• Little Loon Island
• Long Island
• Loon Island
• Merrill Island
• Mink Island
• Mooney Island
• Mouse Island
• Otter Island
• Perch Island
• Potato Island
• Sheep Island
• Three Sisters
• Utopia Island
• Yard Island