Newfound Lake
Spring Fed Lake Of About 4,000 Acres, Often Described As One Of The Cleanest And Clearest Lakes In The Country; Wellington State Park On Its West Shore Has What Is Described As The Largest Freshwater Swimming Beach In The New Hampshire State Park System. · Bristol, New Hampshire
A large, spring-fed lake of about 4,000 acres in the hills west of I-93, between Bristol, Hebron, Bridgewater and Alexandria, often described as one of the cleanest and clearest lakes in the country. Deep, cold water that stays clear to a good depth surrounds a shoreline of summer camps, cottages and wooded points, with the high, bare hills of the Newfound region rising to the west. The main public way in is Wellington State Park on the west shore, whose long sandy beach is described as the largest freshwater swimming beach in the New Hampshire state park system, with picnic groves in the pines and short trails out to rocky Belknap Point and up the Sugarloaf hills across the road. Boaters, paddlers and anglers share the open water, loons nest in quiet coves, and an Audubon nature center at Paradise Point guards a wild stretch of the north shore. Bristol village at the outlet has stores, diners and gas, and the lake is about 6 miles from I-93 exit 23. Summer weekends are busy and the beach gate can close when the lots fill.
Wellington State Park, 614 West Shore Road, Bristol, New Hampshire, 03222, United States
The lake itself is open all year. Wellington State Park's beach and day-use area is staffed from about late May to early September, typically from about 9 a.m. to about 8 p.m. in summer (confirm), with weekends only in late spring (confirm). On hot weekends the gate closes when the lots are full and reopens only as cars leave. Outside the season the gate may be closed and the trails reached on foot from the road. The public boat launch is usable from ice-out, about late April, to late autumn. Paradise Point nature center keeps limited summer hours; its trails are open dawn to dusk. The lake freezes from about January to April, and ice is unsafe near inlets and the outlet.