Twenty-six years after the film “On Golden Pond” the image still lingers: Henry Fonda & Kate Hepburn, in the twilight of their lives, come for another glorious summer at their vacation home on the lake.

Squam Lake, located in Holderness, NH demands respect with it’s intricate and treacherous 80-foot drop offs and boat-shredding reefs. It’s not a place to be without a chart.

Around the rustic cabins and centuries-old pines many families share memories of watching the loons while enjoying the quiet views and water. Squam sets the standard for “Summers in New England.”

As the old families on Squam have sold their properties, a long-held ethic of low impact and unobtrusiveness has given way to a new generation of owners who favor glassy, 20,000-square-foot vacation homes in full-on view from the lake. Fertilizer from manicured lawns now leach into the surface water and road salt runs off through once-wooded buffers. The milfoil weed has shown up in several of the basins, most certainly carried in by visiting boats. The nesting loon population, which had been increasing and stable over the past three decades, has recently been in decline. Squam’s famously clear water is slowly being clouded. New visitors to Squam remain awed by how pristine it seems. But the incremental changes have not gone unnoticed by those who know the lake.

For general information about the area, including boating on the lake, activities, lodging, and dining, go to squamlakeschamber.com. Learn about open spaces, trails, and conservation around Squam at squamlakes.org.