Location
Otter Pond is a natural pond raised by damming, situated at an altitude of 1,125 feet in Sunapee (Georges Mills) and New London, NH.
It covers 187 acres and reaches a depth of 32 feet.
Fed by springs and lake tributaries from Star Lake, Baptist Pond, and Little Lake Sunapee via Goose Hole, its outflow over Otter Pond Dam provides over half the surface water of Lake Sunapee.
Size & Depth
Classified as mesotrophic, Otter Pond has clear water and beds of submerged aquatic plants.
Water quality is regularly tested under the oversight of the NH Department of Environmental Services Voluntary Lake Assessment Program.
Water Quality
Almost half of the shoreline is conserved or undeveloped — a meaningful buffer against water quality decline.
Several parcels are owned by OPPA and conserved by the Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust, including a small public beach.
Wildlife
Otter Pond supports a remarkably diverse ecosystem.
What lives here is a direct reflection of how well we care for this place.
Fish
Pickerel
Sunfish
Yellow Perch
Horned Pout
Smallmouth Bass
Largemouth Bass
Rainbow Trout
Rock Bass (invasive)
Birds
Eagles
Osprey
Loons
Kingfishers
Herons
Mallard Ducks
Mergansers
Mammals
Otters
Beavers
Fox
Deer
Bear
Moose
Recreation
The pond offers year-round recreation including swimming, boating, waterskiing, ice skating, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and fishing. Jet skis are prohibited.
A Little History
Otter Pond has been a gathering place for generations.
At the turn of the century, Otter Pond looked much as it does today: A quiet, working landscape surrounded by forest and farmland.
The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 devastated forests across the region, felling most of New England’s white pines virtually overnight.
Local saw mills used the pond to store salvaged logs in the storm’s aftermath. Some of those logs still surface today, a quiet reminder of that history.