Icehouse Road, Mascoma Lake, Lebanon

Icehouse Road, Mascoma Lake, Lebanon

Lebanon, New Hampshire 03766

Mascoma Lake Official Website
Mascoma Lake map

Tips for Birding

This bird site is along the Northern Rail Trail in Lebanon and Enfield. Access points are US-4 at Ice House Road in Lebanon and Johnston Drive in Enfield just over the border from Lebanon.You can park at the end of each short road.The rail trail goes along Lake Mascoma and past two ponds that can have herons, ducks, and  painted and snapping turtles. The best birding extends from the bridge over the Mascoma River west of Ice House Road to the pond east of Johnston Park.
From Jim Block

About this Location

There is parking for a trailhead on the Northern Rail Trail on Icehouse Road on the north side of Mascoma Lake.

About Mascoma Lake

See all hotspots at Mascoma Lake

Mascoma Lake is a four-mile lake located in the towns of Enfield and Lebanon in the heart of the Upper Valley. The Mascoma River feeds into and out of the lake.

The derivation of the name “Mascoma” is of Indian origin “Na-mas-com”, formerly supposed to mean “bear-like” or “bear water” but later found more probably to mean fish, lake, or river. Formerly spelled Masquom, Masome, and Mascomy (from Charles A. Downs). Relham was the first name used for Enfield. Bradford Cove was named for a Shaker elder, John Bradford, and Mont Clare in honor of Clara G. Churchill of Lebanon.

Shakers constructed a large stone building in 1837. LaSalette Seminary was established in 1927. Sacred Heart Camp, now privately owned cottages, was established in 1937. The original famous Shaker Bridge said to be the only one of its kind in the world, was built by the Shakers in 1848-49. It was destroyed by a hurricane in 1938 and rebuilt, with the dedication on August 17, 1940. The dam was rebuilt in 1982. The first cottage on the lake was built by Frank C. Churchill in 1883 on Point Comfort. The first cottage at the head of the lake was built by Mr. Smith of West Lebanon on Crescent Beach.

Features

  • Roadside viewing

  • Restrooms on site

  • Wheelchair accessible trail

  • Entrance fee

Content from Mascoma Lake Official Website

Last updated January 10, 2024