Echo Lake is a 38.2 acres (15.5 ha) water body located in Franconia Notch

Franconia Notch

Franconia Notch is a major mountain pass through the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Dominated by Cannon Mountain, it lies principally within Franconia Notch State Park and is traversed by the Franconia Notch Parkway Franconia Notch (el. 1950 ft. / 590 m.) is a major mountain pass through...

 in the White Mountains

White Mountains (New Hampshire)

The White Mountains are a mountain range covering about a quarter of the state of New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine in the United States. Part of the Appalachian Mountains, they are considered the most rugged mountains in New England...

 of New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, at the foot of Cannon Mountain

Cannon Mountain (New Hampshire)

Cannon Mountain is a peak in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Known for both its technical rock and ice climbing and its skiing , the mountain was home to the Old Man of the Mountain until the formation collapsed on May 3, 2003...

. The lake is in the Connecticut River

Connecticut River

The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...

 watershed

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

, near the height of land

Water divide

A drainage divide, water divide, divide or watershed is the line separating neighbouring drainage basins...

 in Franconia Notch; water from the lake's outlet flows north via Lafayette Brook to the Gale River

Gale River

The Gale River is a 13.1 mile long tributary of the Ammonoosuc River in northwestern New Hampshire in the United States. Via the Ammonoosuc, it is part of the watershed of the Connecticut River, which flows to Long Island Sound....

, then the Ammonoosuc River

Ammonoosuc River

The Ammonoosuc River is a river, 55 mi long, in northwestern New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River, which flows to Long Island Sound. "Ammonoosuc" is Abnaki for "small, narrow fishing place"....

, and finally the Connecticut River to Long Island Sound

Long Island Sound

Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...

, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

.

Echo Lake lies in Franconia Notch State Park

Franconia Notch State Park

Franconia Notch State Park is located in the White Mountains in northern New Hampshire and straddles of Interstate 93 as it passes through Franconia Notch, a mountain pass between the Kinsman Range and Franconia Range...

. The park's Cannon Mountain ski slopes rise directly to the southwest of the lake. Interstate 93

Interstate 93

Interstate 93 is an Interstate Highway in the New England section of the United States. Its southern terminus is in Canton, Massachusetts, in the Boston metropolitan area, at Interstate 95; its northern terminus is near St. Johnsbury, Vermont, at Interstate 91...

 (the Franconia Notch Parkway) runs along the lake's eastern shore, and New Hampshire Route 18

New Hampshire Route 18

New Hampshire Route 18 is a long north–south state highway in New Hampshire. Its northern terminus is at the Vermont state line in the town of Littleton, where the road continues north as Vermont Route 18. The southern terminus of NH 18 is at an interchange with Interstate 93 and U.S...

passes the lake's northern shore, where a state park swimming beach is located. Artists Bluff, a hill with open ledges, rises north of the lake and provides views south over the lake into the center of Franconia Notch.