Did you know that the largest earthquake in New Hampshire occurred in 1940, having a magnitude of 5.50. The epicenter was at Ossipee Lake, near Whittier Mountain. For comparison, the largest earthquake in California (San Andreas fault, 1857) had a magnitude of 7.9. The most recent earthquake in New Hampshire occurred on August 28, 2004. It was thirty miles NNW of Nashua with a magnitude of 2.1.

Earthquakes have sparked man's curiosity since ancient times. They have also disrupted lives, destroyed great monuments and cities and created great tidal waves. The National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) was created to determine rapidly the location and size of potentially destructive earthquakes worldwide and to report this information immediately to the appropriate national and international agencies, scientists, and the general public. On this website http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/, you can do such things as:

· read up all about earthquakes or search for earthquakes by state or by region and find information about the most recent earthquakes.

When was the last time you went camping? Ossipee Lake Camping Area in New Hampshire is the place to go. Ossipee Lake Camping Area, located in the White Mountains, has a lot of "fun" things to do.  Outdoor recreation is abundant; there is the opportunity for hiking, golf, whitewater paddling, fishing, and swimming. 

The excellent variety of the local attractions and all the outdoors recreation will have you coming back for more. - - Ossipee Lake Camping Area is near the Hammond Trail and great skiing awaits you at King Pine. And if that's not enough, there's a lot more to do in the White Mountains. Hiking along the Chocorua Brook Trail is great fun and the Weetamoo Trail offers hiking at it's best along with a round of golf at nearby Indian Mound Golf Club.  

If you don't mind getting wet you can always go whitewater paddling on the Wonalancet and do take a hike on the Liberty Trail. Once you arrive at Ossipee Lake Camping Area, you might not ever want to go home again. The thought of whitewatering on the Ossipee River  will get your heart pumping.

Remember the special enjoyment that you got from fishing with your family?  The hours spent sharing stories with your grandfather, teaching your daughter to cast her line, laughing over childhood memories with your brother. 

Wouldn't you like to experience this again?  Ossipee Lake fishing gives families a break from their hectic schedules and time to reconnect with one another.  Nothing can match the memories that your family will make and the bonds that you'll build while spending time on the water.

Ossipee Lake NH (3,092 acres) is a favorite fishing spot and has the following species - rainbow, lake & brown trout, salmon, smallmouth & largemouth bass, pickerel and horned pout

Here's a little information on the New Hampshire fishing seasons:

Brook Trout, Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout & their Hybrids

• Rivers & Streams: January 1 - October 15
• Wild Trout Streams: January 1 - Labor Day
• Trout Ponds: 4th Saturday in April - October 15
• Wild Trout Ponds: 4th Saturday in April - Labor Day
• Lake Trout &/or Salmon Waters: January 1 - September 30
• All Other Waters: No closed season

Lake Trout

• All Waters: January 1 - September 30

Largemouth Bass & Smallmouth Bass

• Rivers & Streams: January 1 - October 15; Catch & Release May 15 - June 15
• Trout Ponds: 4th Saturday in April - October 15; Catch & Release May 15 - June 15
• All Other Waters: No closed season; Catch & Release May 15 - June 15

For information on owning a vacation home near or on Ossipee Lake, email me at donna@beangroup.com or check out my website at www.donna-pratt.com

The 18-hole "Indian Mound" course at the Indian Mound Golf Club facility in Center Ossipee, New Hampshire features 5,675 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 70.  This PGA course has sweeping views of the Ossipee Mountains. The challenging course has a relatively level front 9, gentle rolling terrain back 9.  It is  well groomed and player friendly. The course rating is 68.5 and it has a slope rating of 114.  Designed by Philip A. Wogan, ASGCA, the Indian Mound golf course opened in 1968. Considered one of New Hampshire's most popular golf courses.   Located on Rt. 16-B in Center Ossipee, NH.  They'll be open as soon as the snow melts!  For more details and information on homes on the golf course, visit www.donna-pratt.com.

Spring and summer are filled with boating, canoeing, water sports, fishing, golf, tennis, biking and hiking.  Ossipee is nestled between the beautiful Ossipee Mountain range and crystal clear lakes and rivers.  Ossipee has its traditional "Old Home Week" celebration each year.  In the fall the mountaintops and the valleys, autumn's foliage dazzles your eyes and excites your imagination.  This colorful season is the perfect time to take in a country fair or experience many of our other area attractions.   The colors that you see here will live in your memory long after winter's snow starts to fall.  Sparkling snow-capped mountains, animal tracks in the snow and the soft crunch of the snow beneath your feet are the essence of winter the Ossipee Lake, NH area.  Ski areas are just around the corner, challenging the expert and treating the novice skier and snowboarder alike.  Cross country skiers and snowmobilers can take advantage of our miles of groomed and tracked trails and an extensive network of trails which wander through White Lake State Park and across the Ossipee Mountains over a variety of terrain. Old time favorite pastimes, like ice skating, snow shoeing, sledding and even dog sled races provide family fun for all ages, states the Greater Ossipee Area Chamber of Commerce.

 

Live where you play and start planning your time here now.  Visit http://www.donna-pratt.com/ and see all the opportunities that await.

The Real Estate Market

On Ossipee Lake, only about 30 properties are on the market at any given time, real estate agents say, which is not surprising given that there are only 800 lakefront properties.

On average, 20 properties there sell each year, though recently, prices have dropped by 15 to 20 percent; the peak sales numbers of 2004 and 2005 are a thing of the past, said the managing broker of a local real estate office in town.

"The general market conditions have slowed down," he said. "It's probably going to continue on a downward trend - probably not too much depreciation, but not a lot of appreciation."

Average houses on Ossipee Lake start in the high $300,000 range and can exceed $1 million, though prices around $500,000 are the norm, said a broker at a Lakes Region real estate office, which specializes in the Lakes Region. Outside the waterfront area houses are much less, averaging $180,000. A West Ossipee real estate office states that houses stay on the market for an average of about 180 days.

Among current listings, one firm has a one-story waterfront house with two bedrooms and one bathroom, on a peninsula, for $485,900.  Another agency is listing a house, on a channel that branches off from the lake, that has five bedrooms and a guest cottage for $789,000.

Lay of the Land

POPULATION 4,637, according to a 2005 estimate by the Census Bureau.

SIZE About 75 square miles.

WHO'S BUYING Retirees from across the country and middle-class to upper-middle-class families and couples from neighboring states, especially Massachusetts.

GETTING THERE The drive from Boston is about two hours, and from New York around five; the airport in Manchester, N.H., is a 90-minute drive.

WHILE YOU'RE LOOKING The Mount Whittier Motel (1695 Route 16, 603-539-4951; www.mountwhittiermotel.biz), a short drive from the lake, offers rooms with Continental breakfast for $59 a night in the fall and winter and $79 in the spring and summer. At Purity Spring Resort (1251 Eaton Road, East Madison; 603-367-8896; www.purityspring.com), most rooms, including meals, range from $42 to $150 a person, depending on the season.

Above information is taken from an article in the New York Times published in January of 2007.  For more information on purchasing property in the Ossipee Lake NH area visit www.donna-pratt.com and live where you play.