White Lake State Park - Best Swimming Beach in the White Mountains
Written: Jun 26 '08 (Updated Nov 05 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: beautiful beach, clear water for swimming, good fishing, nice facilities
Cons: location somewhat out of the way, few bathrooms in the campground, closes at 5 PM
The Bottom Line: For daytrippers, here's cooling relief on hot days. For campers, here's a basic campground with good swimming and fishing.
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| AliventiAsylum's Full Review: White Lake State Park |
I am fortunate that I live in a development that has their own private lakes and beaches. Five beaches, to be precise, on two different small lakes or rather large “ponds”. This means I can be swimming in less than five minutes. However, there are several public state parks in the area that also have very nice beaches. One of them is White Lake State Park. It’s the most popular destination for school groups near the end of the school year when the classes venture out for a day of swimming and a picnic or barbeque.
LOCATION, HOURS & ADMISSION
White Lake State Park is located off of Route 16 in Tamworth, NH. It’s about 20 minutes south of North Conway, NH. Most people drive right past it and never give it another thought.
The day-use portion of the park opens for weekends beginning Memorial Day. It begins operating daily the middle of June, usually coinciding with Bike Week in Laconia. The park closes down on Labor Day weekend. Hours of operation are opening at 8AM and closing at 5PM.
The campground opens the same date as the park does for day-use on weekends, but shuts down for the winter in the middle of October, coinciding with the end of the Fryeburg and Sandwich Fairs. The gates for the campground are open from 8AM to 8PM.
Day-use admission is $4 for each adult and $2 for each child ages 6-11. Ages 5 and under are admitted free. Only New Hampshire state resident seniors receive a complimentary admission for ages 65 and older.
WHAT IT IS
The main feature of White Lake State Park is a 140 acre glacial lake. The water is beautiful and the beach is gorgeous as well. It’s got enough shade that it doesn’t become unendurable on even the hottest days. At the same time, there’s enough exposure to satisfy sunbathers. It can get crowded, especially on weekends, so getting there early is a necessity. Hot days in the region mean even more people will head out here to cool off, so plan to be here as early as possible.
There’s some terrific fishing at White Lake State Park as well. Trout can be found here as well as bass, perch, and pickerel. Boats are available for rental at the boathouse. I haven’t made use of theirs as we have been here mostly for group outings, and if we did want to go out fishing, we could bring our own canoe.
White Lake State Park has a gorgeous view of Mt. Chocorua, although the hiking trails located in the park itself are all pretty easy. One goes to Pitch Pines National Natural Landmark. This is a 72 acre preserve of the trees which have been disappearing from the landscape. A hike around the lake takes about an hour and a half, with an additional half hour to venture to Pitch Pines National Natural Landmark. The path is a pretty good one, and even those who don’t hike on a regular basis should have no problem navigating the trails.
CAMPGROUND
The campground is fairly large with 204 sites total. I’ve walked through it, and this is definitely a nice campground. The sites have a good amount of space to them. None of the sites have hookups, and it seems more geared toward tent campers than those with big-rigs. For all those sites, there are only four bathrooms, and only two of those have showers. It doesn’t seem like a lot, and you could have a pretty good walk to the bathroom.
174 of the sites are by reservation only, one designated for a youth group by reservation only, and the rest are first-come first-served. The fees are incredibly reasonable with rates starting at $24 for regular sites and $32 for water view sites.
There is a camp store on site, although you’d be better off cost wise and variety wise to lay in your supplies before arriving. There are no big stores convenient to the park - the nearest Wal-Mart is more than 20 miles away, and it’s a good 15 minute ride to the nearest supermarket down in Ossipee.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If I didn’t have a beach so close to me, this would be my choice of where to swim in the area. The park is beautiful and maintained well. It does tend to get crowded, but I haven’t run into too many obnoxious people, so I believe it’s controlled pretty well. The kids love to go here for swimming, and look forward to the class trips here. There’s plenty to do for a full day, and it’s an especially nice retreat during the hot dog-days of summer.
Other sites to see in New Hampshire:
Attitash Bear Peak Ski Resort ~ Bretton Woods Ski Resort ~ Canobie Lake Park ~ Cranmore Mountain Ski Resort ~ Franconia Notch State Park ~ King Pine Ski Resort ~ Loon Mountain Ski Resort ~ Madison Boulder Natural Area ~ Mount Washington Cog Railway ~ North Conway, NH ~ Polar Express Event ~ Shawnee Peak, Bridgeton ME ~ Six Gun City ~ Story Land ~ Whale's Tale Waterpark ~ White Mountain National Forest ~ Wildcat Mountain
Some places to stay in New Hampshire:
Attitash Mountain Village - Bartlett NH ~ Comfort Inn & Suites - North Conway NH ~ Hampton Inn - Concord/Bow NH ~ Yankee Clipper Motel
Places to eat in New Hampshire:
Bea's Cafe, Conway NH ~ Cafe Noche, Conway NH ~ Decades Steakhouse, North Conway NH ~ Delaney‘s Hole in the Wall, North Conway NH ~ Harts Turkey Farm, Meredith NH ~ May Kelly's Cottage, North Conway NH ~ Merlino's Steakhouse, North Conway NH ~ Moat Mountain Smokehouse, North Conway NH ~ Muddy Moose, North Conway NH ~ Peach's Restauran, North Conway NH ~ Red Parka Steakhouse & Pub, Glen NH ~ Yankee Smokehouse, West Ossipee NH
Books about the area:
Appalachian Mountain Club White Mountain Guide ~ 50 Hikes in the White Mountains
© 2008 Patti Aliventi
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
AliventiAsylum
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Member: Patti Aliventi
Location: Mount Washington Valley, New Hampshire
Reviews written: 2077
Trusted by: 687 members
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Now writing reviews to pay for the "out of network" costs of our health insurance...
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