The Chocorua Lake Basin View Lot, with safe off-road parking and a viewing area. Photo: Alex Moot
At long last, and after hard work on the part of many people, the Chocorua Lake Basin View Lot is open to the public. The Basin View Lot sits at the top of the hill just south of Chocorua Lake, on Route 16, looking toward the lake and Mount Chocorua. It includes safe off-road parking, a gorgeous stone wall, a rustic wooden gate, and a beautiful viewing area from which to take photographs, paint pictures, or just pause for a moment in your day to take in the vista unfolding below.
Viewing area. Photo: Alex Moot
The Basin View Lot project began in 2018 during the Chocorua Lake Conservancy’s Timeless Chocorua capital campaign. Thanks to the generous campaign support of over 350 households, the Tamworth Foundation, the Fields Pond Foundation, the Samuel P. Hunt Foundation, and the NH Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP), the CLC was able to successfully protect the Basin View Lot and start work on the creation of an attractive public access area within the Basin View Lot at which visitors could park and enjoy the view—in 2013, the iconic view from the Basin View Lot was chosen to represent the White Mountains on the state’s second “America the Beautiful” quarter.
CLC Stewardship Director Lynne Flaccus and members of the CLC’s Lake and Property Management Committee worked with the family members who own the Basin View Lot and the barn on the hill overlooking Chocorua Lake to prepare an ongoing Management Plan for the conservation easement the CLC purchased in August 2018, to reestablish the historic viewshed of both lake and mountain, and to create a defined Visitor Access Area.
Gorgeous stonewall by Jones Brick and Stone, and beautiful gate by Good Neighbor Fence. Photo: Alex Moot
Like any large endeavor, The Basin View Lot has been a multi-year project involving many dedicated people within the Chocorua Lake Conservancy and numerous local contractors. While many hands have touched this project, it was not always “light work” (the new wall weighs 308,000 pounds!). Now that all that remains is for the newly-seeded grass to grow in, the CLC would like to recognize those who have made this possible:
Photo: Alex Moot
The Bowditch and Vander Clute families for making their property available for view access and for diligently working with the CLC on the many details.
All of the generous donors to the CLC’s Timeless Chocorua campaign.
The members of the CLC’s Land Conservation Committee for their vision and the development of the Conservation Easement.
The members of the CLC’s Lake and Property Management Committee for their design and management of the project, and the coordination of contractors.
Our many wonderful contractors: Don Johnson of Forest Land Improvement (view shed management and tree clearing); Gary Jones of Jones Brick and Stone (the extraordinary stone walls); John Roberts (grading and substrate materials); Gemini Sign (the Basin View Lot sign) and Jason Bergen of Good Neighbor Fence (the gate to the barn).
And finally, former CLC board members John Watkins, who had the idea for the project, and Dave Farley and Peg Wheeler, for their work on the early stages of the project; CLC Board President Alex Moot, for leading the fundraising efforts that made this project possible; and our Stewardship Director, Lynne Flaccus, whose capable guidance was ever-present on all phases of this project.
The Chocorua Lake Conservancy would like to express a deeply appreciative “Thanks!” to everyone involved for the creation of a safe and beautifully presented site to enjoy arguably the most iconic view in the State of New Hampshire.
Banner image: The view of Chocorua Lake and Little Lake, the Narrows Bridge, and Mount Chocorua from the Chocorua Lake Basin View Lot. Photo: Alex Moot