Lake Sunapee

Lake Sunapee
A view between Great Island and Little Island
Location	Sullivan County and Merrimack County, New Hampshire
Coordinates	43°22′33″N 72°3′23″W / 43.37583°N 72.05639°W / 43.37583; -72.05639Coordinates: 43°22′33″N 72°3′23″W / 43.37583°N 72.05639°W / 43.37583; -72.05639
Primary inflows	outlet of Little Sunapee Lake; Pike Brook; Blodgett Brook; Bartlett Brook; Chandler Brook
Primary outflows	Sugar River
Basin countries	United States
Max. length	8.1 miles (13.0 km)
Max. width	2.3 miles (3.7 km)
Surface area	4,136 acres (17 km2)
Max. depth	105 feet (32 m)
Shore length1	70 miles (110 km)
Surface elevation	1,093 feet (333 m)
Islands	8
Settlements	Sunapee; New London; Newbury
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

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 (0.8 to 4.0 km) wide (east-west), covering 6.5 square miles (17 km²), with a maximum depth of 105 feet (32 m). It contains eleven islands (Loon Island, Elizabeth Island, Twin Islands, Great Island, Minute Island, Little Island, Star Island, Emerald Island, Isle of Pines and Penny 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, Mount Sunapee State Park, Burkehaven Marina, and a private marina. The lake contains three lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places. 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.