Mooselookmeguntic Lake

Mooselookmeguntic Lake is located in Franklin County and Oxford County, Maine, in the United States. It is part of the Androscoggin River watershed. It is located in the western part of Maine, near the border with the state of New Hampshire and the Canadian province of Quebec. The lake is just a few miles from the Appalachian Trail.

Mooselookmeguntic Lake
Mooselookmeguntic Lake from a scenic overlook on Maine State Route 17
Mooselookmeguntic Lake Show map of Maine Mooselookmeguntic Lake Show map of the United States
Location	Franklin / Oxford counties, Maine, United States
Coordinates	44°54′18″N 70°48′32″W
Type	mesotrophic
Catchment area	389 sq mi (1,010 km2)
Basin countries	United States
Surface area	16,300 acres (6,600 ha)
Average depth	60 ft (18 m)
Max. depth	132 ft (40 m)
Water volume	562,121 acre⋅ft (693,366,000 m3)
Residence time	1.1 years
Shore length1	57.5 mi (92.5 km)
Surface elevation	1,467 ft (447 m)
Islands	Toothaker Island, Students Island
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

There are two islands in the southern portion of Mooselookmeguntic Lake called "Toothaker Island" and "Students Island".^[1]

Name

The name "Mooselookmeguntic" is an Abnaki word for "moose feeding place." Variant names listed by the USGS include "Mooselocmaguntic Lake" and "Mooselookmeguntick Lake".

Hydrology

Mooselookmeguntic Lake receives water from several sources. The Cupsuptic River flows into Cupsuptic Lake, which is directly connected with the northern part of Mooselookmeguntic Lake. The Rangeley River and Kennebago River both flow into northeastern Mooselookmeguntic Lake.

The lake's waters flow out to the southwest, into Upper Richardson Lake. There is a dam between the two lakes called "Upper Dam".

Upper Dam, first constructed in 1850^[2] raised the level of Mooselookmeguntic Lake about 6 feet,^[3] causing it to become joined to Cupsuptic Lake forming a reservoir. The two lakes had been separate before the dam was built. Upper Dam was rebuilt once in the late 1800s^[3] and most recently from 2012 to 2016.^[4]

Mooselookmeguntic Lake's maximum depth is 132 feet (40 m) and its surface area is 25.5 square miles (66 km²).^[5] It is the sixth largest lake in Maine. Mooselookmeguntic Lake's elevation is 1,467 feet (447 meters) above sea level.

Environment

The lake has a variety of fish,^[1] and is a popular tourist attraction for fishing.^[6] It is surrounded by the Stephen Phillips Memorial Preserve protected wilderness area.

In literature

Lake Mooselookmeguntic is the location of the action in the book "Magic Thinks Big", an illustrated children's book by Elisha Cooper. The book features paintings of one of the islands in the lake, as well as a panorama of the lake.