Lake Winnipesaukee

New Hampshire'S Largest Lake, About 70 Square Miles With More Than 250 Islands, Roughly 20 Miles Long, At The Heart Of The Lakes Region; A Public Water Body With A Mostly Private Shoreline. · Laconia, New Hampshire

New Hampshire's largest lake, about 70 square miles of clear water roughly 20 miles long, scattered with more than 250 islands and ringed by the Belknap and Ossipee mountains, and the heart of the Lakes Region. It has been a summer escape since steamboats met the trains in the 1800s and still runs on that rhythm: cottages and camps along a mostly private shoreline, busy town docks, loons calling at dusk and boat traffic from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Weirs Beach in Laconia is the noisy hub, with a boardwalk, arcades, a small public beach and the pier for the M/S Mount Washington, a 230-foot cruise ship, and the Sophie C., a working US mail boat that delivers to island residents. Across the water Wolfeboro calls itself the oldest summer resort in America, Meredith has the prettiest waterfront, and Alton Bay sits at the southern tip below Mount Major. Mid-June brings Laconia Motorcycle Week; winter brings ice-fishing villages. Public beaches are few, so plan where you will get into the water before you arrive.

211 Lakeside Avenue (Weirs Beach), Laconia, New Hampshire, 03246, United States

The lake itself is open all year, with no gate or fee. The Weirs Beach boardwalk shops, arcades and food stands run mainly from Memorial Day to Labor Day, some on weekends in May, September and October. The M/S Mount Washington sails from about late May to late October on a published schedule, with several departures a day in high summer. The Sophie C. mail boat runs roughly mid-June to early September, on mail days only (confirm). Ellacoya State Park and the town beaches keep daytime hours in summer. Boat rentals run roughly May to October. In winter, bob-house villages go up once the ice is safe, usually January to March, and boating stops until ice-out in April.

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