Lake Umbagog
Large, Wild Lake On The New Hampshire Maine Border At The Head Of The Androscoggin River, Largely Protected Within Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge; Lake Umbagog State Park Has A Base Campground And Remote Campsites Reachable Only By Boat. · Errol, New Hampshire
A large, wild lake of roughly 8,000 acres straddling the border between New Hampshire and Maine at the head of the Androscoggin River, a few miles from the small outfitting town of Errol. Umbagog is shallow, marshy and ragged, with long coves, islands, floating bogs and river mouths rather than a clean shoreline, and much of its shore and wetland is protected within Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge. There are few cottages and no town on the water, so loons call across empty bays, bald eagles and ospreys nest in the tall pines, and moose feed in the marshes where the Magalloway River winds in from the north. Lake Umbagog State Park, on Route 26 south of Errol, has a small base campground and boat launch and runs a set of remote campsites on islands and shores that can be reached only by boat. Paddlers come for multi-day trips, birders for nesting eagles and boreal species, and anglers for bass and pickerel. Wind on the open lake is the main hazard, black flies swarm in early summer, and there is little or no cell signal.
NH Route 26 (Lake Umbagog State Park), Errol, New Hampshire, 03579, United States
The lake and refuge lands are open all year from dawn to dusk for day use. Lake Umbagog State Park's base campground and remote boat-in sites run from about mid May to about mid October (confirm), and all campsites must be reserved ahead through the state park booking system. The state park launch and day area are staffed in the camping season only. The refuge office north of Errol keeps limited weekday hours (confirm). The lake is usually ice-free from about early May to late November; ice fishing and snowmobiling follow in winter, with unsafe ice near river mouths. Errol's stores and outfitters keep shorter hours off-season.