CLC History
A Few Special Places
CLC Conserved Properties
Landowner Resources
Chocorua Lake
Rivers & Streams
Sled Dog Race
Hike Chocorua
Mount Chocorua History
Chocorua Mountain Club
The Chocorua Lake Conservancy (CLC) is a volunteer-led, nonprofit land trust founded in 1968. The CLC owns or manages almost 1,000 acres of conservation land across 17 properties, and protects 3,000 additional acres through perpetual conservation covenants and easements on over 100 properties.
"The mission of the Chocorua Lake Conservancy is to protect the scenic and natural resources of the Chocorua Lake Basin and surrounding area through conservation practices, land protection, easements, maintenance of lands for public access, and the development of a community of support."
Our main areas of focus include:
Public Access: We are committed to providing local residents and occasional visitors with convenient, attractive public access to Chocorua Lake and trails on nearby conservation lands.
Land Conservation: We protect the scenic and natural resources of the Chocorua Lake Basin and surrounding area.
Lake Protection: Through monitoring and other activities, we protect the pristine water quality of Chocorua Lake, the Chocorua River, and other tributaries.
Forest Protection: Conducting and modeling sustainable forestry operations.
Education & Outreach: We offer events throughout the year to encourage people of all ages to enjoy Chocorua Lake and the trails that surround it, to learn more about the natural world we're part of, to engage in active stewardship with us, and to have fun with friends and neighbors while doing all these things.
Volunteers, donors & business partners make our work possible.
New to the Lake Basin?
Here are a few special places you can visit to see why so many of us love it here.
Algonquian Lifeways in the Lakes Region
We know how hard it is to get through a New Hampshire winter even with all the modern conveniences. How did the people who inhabited these lands before English colonists arrived live and survive through our changing seasons?
Trail Stewardship Day
How many of the CLC trails have you explored? Have you looked across the meandering Chocorua River toward the long flank of Mount Chocorua stretched out behind it?
Byron Carr painting of Chocorua Lake Basin at Art Works Summer Art Show
Artist Byron Carr of Contoocook, NH, has generously donated to the CLC two beautiful, framed oil paintings of the Chocorua Lake Basin, with Mount Chocorua in the background.
Tamworth Outing Club Saturday Contra Dance with Dudley Laufman
Meet new friends or old, learn new steps, or teach familiar ones to a friend or neighbor, and be part of a longstanding New England tradition, all in one evening.
Calling all Chocorua Mountain Club volunteers on August 3 & August 24
Matt Coughlan, the Crawford Path Project Manager for the White Mountain Trail Collective, invites anyone who wants to support and care for hiking trails in the White Mountains to join him on one of two Crawford Path work days, on August 3 & 24.
We're looking for great board & committee members!
Do you know someone who would make a good candidate to serve on the CLC's Board of Directors, or on a Board Committee? Share your ideas, by Tuesday, July 16, with Melissa Baldwin, Chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee.
2018 Banner Year for Water Quality!
The results of ten sampling events during the summer of 2018 show that the water quality of Chocorua Lake this past year was outstanding, falling within the "oligotrophic/excellent" range for fresh water lakes in New Hampshire.
Thank you to everyone who supported the Timeless Chocorua capital campaign!
On behalf of the board of directors of the Chocorua Lake Conservancy (CLC), I want to thank this wonderful community for supporting our organization's recently completed Timeless Chocorua capital campaign.
Chocorua Lake Basin Historic District
On June 9, 2005, the Chocorua Lake Basin Historic District was listed on the Register of National Historic Places, the largest such district in New England. The district covers more than 6,000 acres surrounding Chocorua Lake.
The Legend of Chief Chocorua
Mount Chocorua was long said to bear the name of Chief Chocorua, a fictitious Native American who, according to legends created by white colonists, lived with his young son in the area that is now Tamworth, New Hampshire, in the early 1700s.
Chocorua Redux: Revisionist History of a Name
While local legend, created by white colonists and their descendants, has it that Mount Chocorua was named for a Native American Chief Chocorua, historical evidence does not support the legend or the notion that the mountain is named for any person. Historian Mary Ellen Lepionka has written extensively about this, using historical evidence to debunk the myth, and etymology to speculate about where Chocorua may have gotten its name.
How Did the Trails Up Mount Chocorua Come to Be?
One trail is said to have been used by Native Americans before the English arrived on these shores. Some trails begin as a road or bridle path, others are created expressly as hiking trails.
Why the Summit of Mount Chocorua is Bare
Mount Chocorua's bare, rocky summit is attributable to a succession of forest fires from the early 19th to early 20th centuries.
True Stories from the Crankie: No Skinny Dippin'!
When we were painting the Chocorua Lake Crankie last year, David Little turned up and said the crankie had to have a "No Skinny Dippin'" sign, just as it's painted, bulls-eye and all…
Banner: Kristina Folcik. Other photos: Juno Lamb
Subscribe to our Monthly E-Newsletter
Our gratitude to all our business partners. Please thank them for supporting conservation & public access in the Chocorua Lake Basin, and click on their logo or business name to visit them online.
Mount Chocorua Level Partners
ROCKHOPPER Races LLC
Tamworth Distilling
Heron Pond Level Partners
Chocorua Camping Village - KOA
Extreme Terrain
Lloyd & Day Real Estate
Moat Mountain Smokehouse & Brewing Co.
White Mountain Survey & Engineering
Business Partners & Event Sponsors
Conway Daily Sun • Cormack Construction Management, Inc. • Dube & Robinson Cider • Hobbs Tavern & Brewing Company • Mac Hill Electric • Minuteman Press • Paul L. King Land Surveying • The Farmstand • The Other Store • The Preserve at Chocorua • Total Concept Property Management & Vacation Rentals • Whippletree Winery • Yankee Smokehouse • YMCA Camp Huckins
Chocorua Lake Conservancy
Chocorua, NH 03817
info@chocorualakeconservancy.org