Church Island, Squam Lake
Boaters, might not be the most pious bunch in the world, but many of us like to take some time from our boating weekends and attend church. If you frequent Squam Lake, you can keep your boaters happy and the Good Lord at the same time with a visit to Church Island.
With it's new public boat launch, Squam Lake is as accessible
as ever. Our favorite way to enjoy Squam is to spend a night
at Rockywold-Deephaven Camps in
Holderness.
Most of the cabins are right on the Water. They are beautifully restored
rustic cabins (no heat) with screened in porches and fire places.
Most of the waterfront cabins have their own dock.
Availability is very limited. Your best chance of getting a reservation is
in June or September. They have a boat house that rents canoes, kayaks,
and small motor boats. Our boat of choice was an Old Town Canoe.
Rockywold-Deephaven only rents to their own guests, so if you don't stay there
you can rent a paddle boat at the Squam Lakes Science Center. From
the boat house it was a short distance to the heart of Big Squam.
Squam Lake is famous for Loons and Rocks. Make sure you keep a look-out
for both.
About a 20 minute paddle from Rockywold-Deephaven was Church Island.
Our visit was at the end of September, and they must have just pulled up the
Docks.
Church Island is just as it is called,
a church. It has no building, but the whole island itself serves as the
church.
Remember, this is a church, so your conduct should be as respectful as any other
legitimate place of worship. Like other churches, you should not
picnic, swim, drink beer, sunbathe, bring your dog, light a campfire, litter, or play heavy
metal music. Church Island, or Chocorua Island Chapel, was
established in 1881 by Camp Chocorua.
Services are every Sunday at 10:30 AM during July and August. Everyone is
welcome to attend the scheduled ceremony, or visit on their own during daylight
hours.
From the dock, there is a well marked path to the chapel.
When we entered the chapel we sat in one of the pews and looked out at
beautiful Squam Lake.
The Church has plenty of seating.
Make sure to notice the hand crank organ and the bell tower.
This is a great place to pray, meditate,
take in nature, or reminisce. We reminisced about an interesting day we
had here about a year ago.
