Sunset Lake Association

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Hampstead, NH
Sunset Lake Association

Preserving the Health and Scenic Beauty of Sunset Lake and its Surroundings Wash Pond) in Hampstead, NH.

The Sunset Lake Association (SLA) was formed in 1982 to help protect our natural resource, promote education, and work with local agencies who want to keep the lake beautiful and healthy for all future generations. We are a membership based organization dedicated to serving the best interests of the people owning property on the shores of, or having legal deeded access to, Sunset Lake (a.k.a. As an association we bring together the energies, talents, and funds of individuals for common efforts.

05/16/2026

A great hike today! Thanks for posting the photos, Julie Vasseur!

05/14/2026

To celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the USA, we would like to gauge interest in having a motorized boat parade on Sunset Lake on the afternoon of the 4th of July and also whether individuals participating in the 9 a.m. morning paddle on that day are interested in decorating themselves or their paddle vessels.

If you will be at Sunset Lake on the 4th of July, please complete this survey by May 31st so we can gauge interest and get appropriate permits.

https://forms.gle/ae331UadewtGikan7

04/19/2026

Thank you to everyone from the SLA, Hampstead Hearts, & Sunset Park Campground who participated in the Earth Day cleanup on April 18th. Here are some photos of the SLA group beautifying our roads!

04/18/2026

Give a friendly wave to the volunteers from the Sunset Lake Association, Hampstead Hearts, & Sunset Park Campground who will be out cleaning roads from 9-11 this morning, keeping Hampstead beautiful!

04/04/2026

In celebration of Earth Day, the Sunset Lake Association is coordinating with Hampstead Hearts & Sunset Park Campground again this year to clean our adopted roads on the Saturday, April 18th at 9:00 am.

The SLA is looking for volunteers to help with the cleanup of our adopted roads: Kent Farm Road, Wash Pond Road, and Ells Road near the town beach. It will take 1-2 hours and the SLA will provide grabbers, trash bags, and bright colored vests. Participants should wear sturdy shoes, long pants, long sleeves, and gloves. Bright colored clothes are recommended.

We are looking for a minimum of 8 volunteers, but we certainly welcome more. If you would like to volunteer, please direct message us or email [email protected] by Sunday, April 12th so we can plan final logistics for the day.

Thank you in advance to all volunteers!

03/26/2026

Yesterday, March 25th, the culvert under the dam was closed and the water level will start to rise. As always, the goal is to have the lake full by mid to late May. Between now and June the water level will be monitored and the dam adjusted to avoid flooding in the case of an extremely wet spring.

While the water level was drawn down last fall, the town highway department upgraded the sluiceway with new metal channels that hold the "logs"/boards in place as shown in the attached image. The old channels in the foreground were corroded and deteriorating and the concrete beneath those channels was starting to erode which if not addressed would have resulted in leakage and an unwanted water level drop in the summer.

Thanks as always to James Mize, Sunset Lake's Dam Keeper, who is appointed by the Hampstead Selectmen and makes sure that are dam stays in good working order and maintains the water level throughout the year.

03/25/2026

It's officially Ice-out on Sunset Lake! That means that the lake is 80% free of ice, and with the current forecast, the remaining ice will likely be completely gone in a day or two. Like last year, we had another winter of cold weather, a lot of snow, and a very long period of the lake being frozen over. However, this was the first season since 2017-2018 where the lake was covered in ice for the entire season with no thawing periods. The lake first froze over on December 5th, which is the earliest it has frozen over since we started recording ice in/out in 2007. The official ice out was declared yesterday, March 24th which is the latest date since 2019, making it the longest season of consistent ice on the lake since 2013-2014. It was great to see the skaters, snowshoers, ice-fishers, snowmobilers, and others out enjoying the frozen lake again this year! The attached image shows the complete history of ice-in/out on Sunset Lake and more details about how we track it is available near the bottom of our Lake Info page: https://slahampstead.org/sunset-lake-info

03/22/2026

We have confirmed that the herons are in residency at the Plaistow heron rookery, so come along on our hike next Saturday for a chance to see them! https://www.facebook.com/share/1KgE1ai8Dj/

01/18/2026

We had a great, adventurous group on our monthly hike yesterday, tackling some intermittent slippery conditions in Schafer Woods in Atkinson. The recently fallen snow made it so peaceful and beautiful!

01/04/2026

What a great idea, Donna! It seems we finally have a year with safe ice for a long period of time! I hope lots of people will choose to participate and perhaps even cover a bit further distance than just in front of their house in case their neighbors are not available!

Address

Hampstead, NH
03841

Website

http://www.slahampstead.org/

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