lake winnipesaukee, nh - beta?

[cinnepa]

in-laws just booked a house for the end of august, seems like a nice place to spend a few days. aside from the usual activities around a lake, was curious if there was any mountain biking nearby....or golf courses? was thinking of leaving the road bike home in fear of too much tourist traffic.

[Steven S. Dallas]

I've done a couple nice rides in Hemenway State Forest and in an area called Liberty Hill- both are pretty easy, but fun. I would check out the Appalachian Mountain Club website and see if they have any info. And be sure to go to Bailey's for french dip and onion rings after the ride.

Good call leaving the roadie at home, by the way, the traffic around there will be heavy and overwhelmingly stupid. Winnipesaukee is beautiful, but secluded it ain't- both the roads and the water get damn crowded.

[Dexter Rutecki]

Go see What About Bob?, the finest Winneipesaukee related film ever.

[Art Shirk]

Very true.

[cinnepa]

Go see What About Bob?, the finest Winneipesaukee related film ever.

sounds good............found out were staying at "The Heritage" (deer lodge)

[Tuckerman]

sounds good............found out were staying at "The Heritage" (deer lodge)

What town are you staying in (Sorry the Heritage is in Wolfeboro thats the other side of the lake)? I live in Meredith fish cove if your a local. Are you looking for lift access? If so check out loon mtn about a hour north. If not Gunstock ski area is in Gilford and has some fun trails. Road biking would be ok on that side of the lake is the quiet side. A nice ride would be 109 or 109a to Moultonborough. And shoot me a PM when you get into town.

[The Dad]

I think Sinecure grew up there. PM him if he doesn't post.

[Sinecure]

I grew up spending summers there. Not far from where Tuck lives. On an island called Pine Island between Meredith and Center Harbor. A couple times years ago I did a one-way ride on the dirt road over Sandwich Notch. You get dropped off at the north end of it near Waterville Valley and ride one-way back to Center Harbor. Its not technical, but its a fun ride. Other than that and maybe lift-served riding at Gunstock or Loon, I can't help much.

There are a few lovely golf courses. If you make the schlep up to North Conway, there's a nice one right in downtown. Also White Mountain GC just north of the lake is nice. I can't remember all the club names so I'll get some beta from my old man and try to send you a PM.

I'm going to be there in August too, but probably nearer the beginning of the month because the kids need to be back in CA toward the end of the month. I'm shipping them off to camp Grandma for 2 weeks and I'll be there for one of them.

Another great Lake Winnipesaukee movie is On Golden Pond - mostly filmed on Squam lake, but the big overhead scenes were on Winni - and they look mostly the same anyway. I remember as a kid my mom coming home from the grocery store in Center Harbor all excited because she'd met Katherine Hepburn in line waiting to pay. My always shy mom struck up a 10 minute conversation and got all the beta on the upcoming movie.

Anyway, its not hard to find mtn bike trails around the lake. Same for golf. And the lake is fantastic if you've never been there. It is super clean - you can see a quarter on the bottom from the end of our dock - its 8'-10' deep. Recently there are a lot more huge boats, but its only really busy on weekends. You'll have a great time.

[shmerham]

Yeah, on that side you could do some nice road riding, like going up over Cotton Mountain and riding around Brookfield, which is a very quiet town. There are golf courses in Wolfeboro, but I don't golf, so I can't help much. I think mountain biking is kinda iffy in northern new england; plenty of land, but not enough people to keep up the trails and establish good relations with landowners. Sometimes you have to go a ways to find somewhere good or somewhere that you won't get lost.

[Tuckerman]

I'm not much of a golfer but there is a great frisbee course in Ossipee. Also some ultimate frisbee pick up games on Thursday nights around 6ish in Sandwich at the ball fields in the center of town.

[Ottime]

Bumping up this thread, as we will be on Winnipesaukee in late July. Have a house rented with the extended family.

We are close to Glendale.

We are 4 adults, 2 seniors and 3 kids (age 8-12).

Looking for options of things to do.

We would be interested in MTB. I know Gunstock has lift served, but if we were looking to peddle somewhere, looking for a place to rent nearby (biking distance to trailhead) and flow or XC style trails. My wife and kid ar not into more technical terrain.

We might like going out to eat a few nights. Good food, decent price, kid friendly.

Activities for kids. There seems to be a shit ton of options around the lake. Is there a great ropes course, or mini golf, or ice cream joint we should hit? Things you may have done with kids.

This type of place is not my scene, but there was not much else available near water in New England for this particular week. And my in laws took a long time to decide, so here we are. We will have a great time seeing each other after not doing so for a year, but help me figure out this vacation lake.

[ötzi]

What town are you staying in (Sorry the Heritage is in Wolfeboro thats the other side of the lake)? I live in Meredith fish cove if your a local. Are you looking for lift access? If so check out loon mtn about a hour north. If not Gunstock ski area is in Gilford and has some fun trails. Road biking would be ok on that side of the lake is the quiet side. A nice ride would be 109 or 109a to Moultonborough. And shoot me a PM when you get into town.

Remember Tuckerman? Nice fella. What ever happened to that guy?

ha

[ötzi]

This type of place is not my scene

It's still pretty nice, it's just popular. Lots of shoreline to that lake and lots of islands keeps things more spread out that you might think looking at a map or guidebook. You'll probably dig it more than you think.

[BC.]

I know this is a total touron response...but the one time we were up in that area (daughter’s college visit to UNH)...we hiked (along with a shit ton of others) Mt. Major....I thought it was worth it for a few hours. Easy hike...Nice views of lake.

[From_the_NEK]

If you plan on boating at all (especially kayaking), I would recommend doing it in the morning. By mid-day the boat wakes on the lake get pretty ridiculous.
If you are driving a power boat around the lake make sure you have access to good charts. There are A LOT of navigation hazards.

[Timberridge]

Remember Tuckerman? Nice fella. What ever happened to that guy?

ha

After the divorce which was quite messy IIRC, I heard he joined a gay boating commune on Lake Mooselookmeguntic in Maine and is now a rear admiral.

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

Concerts are starting back up at Meadowbrook aka Bank of NH Pavillion. Tedeschi Trucks Band playing there in July. Great venue. I never got into MTB but people tell me there's great trails at Bear Brook State Park to the south. For classic food, got to get a lobster roll at the Tamarack on Rte 3 between the Weirs and Meredith. On boating...beware of the Witches, a shoal smack dab in the middle of the lake. Keeps the local boat yards in business.

[Vt-Freeheel]

Bear Brook is fun MTB for sure and Green Woodlands an hour west has a huge network of flow trails to ride for free.

[ticketchecker]

Green Woodlands is a must. You’d need to arrive with bikes as there’s no shop nearby. Actually there’s not much nearby other than D’s Acres which is a groovy campground/commune scene. I think they used to have rainbow gatherings there. 30+ miles of machine built trails for pretty much all abilities


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[jackstraw]

Bumping up this thread, as we will be on Winnipesaukee in late July.

I'll be in Santa Cruz

There is mtn biking around the lake. Trailforks app is your friend for that stuff. Beyond that, there are quite a few little hikes that are fun with lake views. That All Trails app is good for that stuff too.

And like others said, get out early. The lake can be a shitshow of kooks in motorboats.

[possum]

I go in the winter every year for the Pond Hockey Tourney, never been in summer

If you go up to Meredith there is a huge Arcade and I think mini golf for kids

Favorite place to eat is just outside Gilford at Ellacoya Barn and Grill

There’s an Irish pub in Gilford Patrick’s also and a really good breakfast place by the airport there

[gravitylover]

You could ask buttah, I think he knows the area. I can hook you up with a friend at the bike shop in Concord for bikes and where to ride info. There's many, many miles of goodies in the area.

[Core Shot]

After the divorce which was quite messy IIRC, I heard he joined a gay boating commune on Lake Mooselookmeguntic in Maine and is now a rear admiral.

Rear Admiral in a gay boating commune?

[Ottime]

Anyone bikes at Highland?

[ex-powderbroker]

it’s very popular among the quebs, but you won’t see them this year.