Which State Has More Lakes: Maine or New Hampshire?

New England has its fair share of ponds, rivers, and beaches, but between our Pine Tree State and the Granite State, which has more lakes?

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When comparing Maine and New Hampshire, it makes sense because Maine is the only state that shares a border with just one other state, and that state is, of course, New Hampshire.

Additionally, the University of Maine Black Bears and the University of New Hampshire Wildcats have a major rivalry, adding to the connection between these two states.

The rivalry between the Maine Black Bears and the New Hampshire Wildcats, known as 'The Battle for the Brice–Cowell Musket,' is a longstanding tradition, with the football rivalry spanning over 100 years.

The teams compete for possession of an 'antique fowling' musket, named after former head coaches Fred Brice of Maine and Butch Cowell of New Hampshire.

The rivalry has seen interruptions, such as during World War II and the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it remains a significant part of both schools' football seasons.

While New Hampshire has won more head-to-head matchups than Maine, we’re not talking about football, we’re talking about lakes. And which state has more of them?

According to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, New Hampshire has 944 lakes and impoundments on its Official List of Public Waters. The bodies of water that are counted include natural lakes and reservoirs, including areas on rivers impounded behind dams.

This number is slightly different from the number of lakes that the World Population Review has for New Hampshire, which is 800.

Either way, that’s an impressive number of lakes for a state. However, Maine has the advantage.

According to the same study from World Population Review, Maine has 2,677 lakes, which is significantly more than our neighbor to the west.

Additionally, according to the ‘Maine Lakes - Cooperative Extension: 4-H’ section from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, based on research on Sebago Lake conducted by scientists at the University of Maine, Maine has over 6000 lakes and ponds, which is again, much larger than New Hampshire’s number. But hey, size doesn’t matter. It’s all about the motion in the, well, in this case: lakes.