U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Edward MacDowell Lake

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Edward MacDowell Lake Welcome to the official US Army Corps of Engineers Edward MacDowell Lake page. Our District website is: www.nae.usace.army.mil. The U.S.

Page administered by the Edward MacDowell Dam staff under the social media guidelines at: www.usace.army.mil/SocialMedia/ The dam at Edward MacDowell Lake is located on Nubanusit Brook in Peterborough, about 14 miles east of Keene. Edward MacDowell Lake provides flood protection primarily to Peterborough. The project also provides flood protection to the downstream communities of Hancock, Benningt

on, Antrim, Deering, Hillsboro, and Henniker, all on the Contoocook River. Army Corps of Engineers operates a small recreation area. Amenities include two pavilions, multiple picnic and grill locations throughout the park, beach, volleyball net, horseshoe pits and playground. Canoes, rowboats, and other small boats are permitted on Edward MacDowell Lake. Project lands also offer trails for hiking and cross country skiing; snowmobile trails; undeveloped open space for ball playing and other sporting activities; drinking water; and sanitary facilities. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, working in cooperation with agencies from the states of CT, MA, NH and VT, provides quality outdoor recreational opportunities at 31 Corps-operated flood risk management reservoirs within these states. The lands and waters of these civil works water resource projects are managed to conserve the natural resources as well as for the primary authorized purpose of flood risk management. Disclaimer

The appearance of external links or the use of third-party applications on this site does not constitute official endorsement on behalf of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army or Department of Defense. This page is administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District. While this is an open forum, it's also a family friendly one, so please keep your comments and posts clean. You participate at your own risk, taking personal responsibility for your comments, your username and any information provided. Comments and posts that violate any of the guidelines listed below may be removed:

• Do not post graphic, obscene, explicit or racial comments. We also do not allow comments that are abusive, hateful, vindictive or intended to defame anyone or any organization.

• Do not post any solicitations (i.e.: asking users to "like" your page, visit your website, sign a petition, contribute to a fundraiser).

• Do not post advertisements, prize contests or giveaways. This includes promotion or endorsement of any financial, commercial or non-governmental agency. Similarly, we do not allow attempts to defame or defraud any financial, commercial or non-governmental agency.

• Do not post details about an ongoing investigation or legal or administrative proceeding that could prejudice the processes or could interfere with an individual's rights will be deleted from this page.

• Do not post copyrighted or trademarked images or graphics. Imagery posted on the Facebook wall should be owned by the user.

• Do not post comments, photos or videos that suggest or encourage illegal activity.

• Do not post political propaganda.

• Do not post documents of any kind.

• All information posted to social media sites will be unclassified. No FOUO (for official use only), classified, pre-decisional, proprietary or business-sensitive information should ever be posted or discussed on this page. Don’t post personnel lists, rosters, organization charts or directories. This is a violation of privacy. Also, the appearance of external links or the use of third-party applications on this site does not constitute official endorsement on behalf of the U.S. For more information, visit the DoD Social Media user agreement at: http://dodcio.defense.gov/DoD-Web-Policy/

You are encouraged to quote, republish or share any content on this site on your own blog, Web site or other communication/publication. If you do so, please credit the Army unit or the person who authored the content as a courtesy.

11/13/2025

The lapse in appropriations has concluded and normal operations on this social media page will resume. Furloughed USACE employees will receive direction through their chain of command.

10/29/2025

Safety Update - Effective immediately, the Spring Road Parking lot will be closed to the public for contractor use through the end of next week. Habitat mowing and Dam structure mechanical vegetation removal will be taking place as part of our routine maintenance schedule. Large equipment and mowing/cutting heads will be used, which can through cut material, will present a struck by hazard. Please respect area closures and contractor signage during this work as it is for your and the contractors well being.

Thank you - Edward MacDowell Lake Staff

Statement from the New England District.
10/03/2025

Statement from the New England District.

Join us tomorrow July 26, 2025 for Edward MacDowell Lake’s 75th Anniversary celebration. A open house will be offered at...
07/25/2025

Join us tomorrow July 26, 2025 for Edward MacDowell Lake’s 75th Anniversary celebration. A open house will be offered at the Project Office and Gatehouse Tours will be given at 11:00am and 1:00pm.

Please join us for our 75th Anniversary celebration July 26th from 10:00am to 2:00pm. Gate House Tours will be offered a...
06/16/2025

Please join us for our 75th Anniversary celebration July 26th from 10:00am to 2:00pm.

Gate House Tours will be offered at 11:00am and 1:00pm.

05/27/2025

Edward MacDowell Lake Summer Recreation Season:

Visitors are always welcome to visit park lands in a day-use capacity from 8:00am - 8:00pm. Levels of amenities and service will be available as described below.

Park and park amenities will be open from 10:00am -5:30pm Saturday, Sunday, and Federal Holidays.

Park restrooms will be available Monday-Friday when staffed, but are not guaranteed to be opened.

Picnic Shelters can be reserved Saturday, Sunday, and Federal Holidays. Shelters reservations will not be accepted Monday-Friday, except reservations that have already been made during these days will be honored.

Scheduled Interpretive Services, including the Junior Ranger Program, will not be offered this summer unless previously arranged with Park Staff.

Park Staff will be hosting on July 26th, a single day 75th Anniversary celebration with an open house where visitors can participate in a gatehouse tour.

Reservoir update: We have started releasing water from this past flood storage event. The high pool level from this even...
05/13/2025

Reservoir update: We have started releasing water from this past flood storage event. The high pool level from this event was approximately 929ft msl, which puts the pool 17ft higher than our normal recreation pool! Our expectation is that the lower parking lot and boat launch gates will remain closed through the end of next week as we release stored waters and clean up flood debris from the park.

Thank you all for your patience and support!

Edward MacDowell Lake Staff

Reservoir levels remain high. We are working towards lowering the pool, but it is likely the lower parking lot and boat ...
05/08/2025

Reservoir levels remain high. We are working towards lowering the pool, but it is likely the lower parking lot and boat launch will remain closed at least through the weekend. We appreciate your understanding with the limited access while we work at protecting our downstream communities.

MacDowell Lake Staff

Currently we are storing 23% of our Storage capacity, about 3,021 acre feet of water. The water is much deeper and every...
05/07/2025

Currently we are storing 23% of our Storage capacity, about 3,021 acre feet of water. The water is much deeper and everything is underwater, including the beach and many of the trails.

We also had a storage event back in April. Our regular daily visitors remember that event as well.

It will take some time for the park to dry out and to clean everything up again for our visiting public.

Update:Photos from Today, an additional 1 inch of rain and a cumulative total of 5 inches since the weekend.Lower parkin...
05/06/2025

Update:

Photos from Today, an additional 1 inch of rain and a cumulative total of 5 inches since the weekend.

Lower parking lot is now closed due to flood water storage. We continue to store flood water and reduce the Nubanusit Brook’s flow so that the Contoocook River does not rise more and prevent flooding for Peterborough, Hancock, Greenfield, Bennington, Antrim, Hillsborough and Henniker.

Remember the Mother’s Day flood of 2006, it happened 19 years ago?

05/05/2025

The Peterborough area pick up just under 4 inches of rain over the weekend and another 2 inches of rain in the next three days is expected. The dam is storing flood waters and reducing the contributing water flows of the Nubanusit Brook into the Contoocook River to help aid in protecting towns and homes downstream and along the Contoocook River.

As a result of our flood water impoundment of the park, recreation assets including the boat launch and trails are closed along the reservoir because they are going underwater. We will keep you posted when everything is back to normal, dry and cleared of flood debris.

Thank you for your understanding.

04/18/2025

Road Gate Openings: We will be opening our road gates to the lower recreation area and the Richardson Road Boat Launch tentatively on 01 MAY 2025.

Enjoy the weekend!

Edward MacDowell Lake Staff

Address

75 Wilder Street
Peterborough, NH
03458

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 8pm
Tuesday 8am - 8pm
Wednesday 8am - 8pm
Thursday 8am - 8pm
Friday 8am - 8pm
Saturday 8am - 8pm
Sunday 8am - 8pm

Telephone

+16039243431

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