Lake Information for Sunapee Lake

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

The lake is approximately 8.1 miles (13.0 km) long (north-south) and from 0.5 to 2.5 miles (4.0 km) wide (east-west), covering 6.5 square miles (4,136 acres), with a maximum depth of 142 feet (43 m). It contains eight islands (Great Island, Burkehaven Island, Star Island, Little Island, Loon Lighthouse Island, Emerald Island, Treasure Island and Minute Island) and is indented by several peninsulas and lake fingers, a combination which yields a total shoreline of some 70 miles (110 km). There are seven sandy beach areas including Mount Sunapee State Park beach; some with restricted town access. There are six boat ramps to access the lake at Sunapee Harbor, Georges Mills, Newbury and Mount Sunapee State Park, Burkehaven Marina, and a private marina. The lake contains three lighthouses on the National register. The driving distance around the lake is 25 miles (40 km) with many miles of lake water view. The lake is 1,093 feet (333 m) above sea level.

The lake's outlet is in Sunapee Harbor, the headway for the Sugar River, which flows west through Newport and Claremont to the Connecticut River and then to the Atlantic Ocean. The lake discharges about 250 cubic feet per second (on average), and the Sugar River drops approximately 800 feet (240 m) on its 27-mile (43 km) journey to the Connecticut River.