Trails, docks, farms, markets.

The lake's main public beach, at the Route 103 traffic circle in Newbury, with a bathhouse, park store, and kayak and canoe rentals on-site alongside the swimming area. No lifeguards, so it's swim-at-your-own-risk even on a packed July Saturday. Adult admission runs $5, kids $2, and the lot fills by mid-morning on the good weekends — arrive before ten or plan for a wait. Pets are allowed at the campground but not on the beach itself.

A hiking route up Mount Sunapee to Lake Solitude, a small mountain pond near the summit that most summer visitors never learn exists because they only know the mountain as a ski hill. The trail runs through dense forest with real elevation change rather than a groomed ski-trail grade. Figure close to four miles round trip combined with the connecting summit trails. Bring water — there's no summer store at the top the way there is in ski season.

A short, steep mile to the summit of Mount Kearsarge from the picnic area, with a 1.75-mile loop option for the way down. The payoff is a clear view of Mount Sunapee, Ragged Mountain, and Pleasant Lake from open granite at the top — one of the better return-on-effort hikes in the region. Opens weekends only in early May, full-time from Memorial Day. Day-use runs $4 for adults, free for NH residents 65 and up.

Under half a mile, moderate grade, and it delivers one of the better views of Lake Sunapee anywhere in the region — a clearing opening south down the lake and out toward the surrounding hills. The 14-acre property was once part of a carriage-road estate; a stretch of that old road is still the trail. Open year-round on foot; the Town of New London issues gate keys for vehicle access through the town office.

Two hundred acres of marsh, pond frontage, and wetland at Low Plain, named for Esther Currier, the local science professor known around town as the Bird Lady. The property includes Cricenti Bog, a wetland significant enough that NH Fish and Game holds a permanent conservation easement on it. Quieter and buggier than the lake beaches, and better for it if the point is actually seeing birds rather than fighting for a spot in the sand.

A wetland preserve along Route 11 protecting the Sugar River's water quality and, with it, a share of Lake Sunapee's own clarity downstream. Migratory waterfowl use it for nesting, which makes late spring the better window for actually seeing something move. The Town of Sunapee owns the land; a kiosk map at the trailhead lays out the short network. Easy to drive past without noticing — just a pull-off and a sign, no dramatic entrance.

Thirty-seven acres off Chalk Pond Road leading to the summit of Sunset Hill, where the clearing opens north toward Lake Sunapee, Croydon Peak, Mount Cardigan, and the White Mountains on a clear day. The land was slated for condominiums before a 1998 preservation effort saved it, named for conservationist Bill Kidder Jr. The trail connects into the larger Hay Forest Reservation for anyone who wants to keep walking past the summit.

A 9.5-mile rail trail running from Newport to Claremont along the old Sugar River Railroad corridor, crossing the river seven times including two covered bridges built for the rail line rather than cars. The Newport end, off Belknap Avenue, is the closer access point from the lake, about fifteen minutes out. Surface is ballast and gravel with soft sand in spots — a mountain bike handles it better than a road bike.

A working farm stand on Main Street rather than out on some back road — pick-your-own strawberries and flowers in season, sweet corn by midsummer, and a CSA share for anyone renting long enough to use it. The nursery side sells the ornamentals; the stand side sells what's actually ripe that week. Closed Tuesdays in fall. The stop for a dinner-party centerpiece and the vegetables to go with it in one visit.

The public boat launch and transient dock system at the center of Sunapee Harbor, off Lake Avenue, with the town gazebo and its summer concerts a short walk up the hill. This is the closest launch to the harbor's restaurants and shops, which also makes it the busiest — expect a line for the ramp on a July Saturday morning. Transient dockage lets a boat tie up for a few hours while the crew eats lunch in town.

A ramp into a protected bay on the lake's northern end, quieter and less trafficked than the launch at Sunapee Harbor proper. Georges Mills is the low-key entry point locals use to avoid the harbor's summer boat traffic. There's no gas dock or rental counter here — just a ramp and a small lot — so plan to fuel up at Goodhue's, a few minutes down the same road, before heading onto open water.

Formerly Sargent's Marina, family-run from 1948 until Goodhue Boat Company bought it in 2019 and kept the gas dock and rental fleet running under new ownership. Pontoons and surf boats make up most of the rental lineup, alongside storage, valet, and full service for owners. Open 8 to 6 daily in season at 19 Cooper Street. The gas dock here is the practical reason to launch from Georges Mills instead of the harbor on a long boating day.

A harbor-based rental operation running kayaks, canoes, pontoons, and a gas dock right where Main Street meets the water. The paddlesport fleet is the draw for a family without their own boat who want an hour on the water rather than a full-day charter. Being inside the harbor itself means a five-minute walk to lunch or ice cream between launches, which the Georges Mills marinas can't offer. Call ahead in August — the pontoon slots go first.

The public dock at the south end of the lake, across the road from Bubba's Bar & Grille, with its own gazebo hosting summer concerts alongside Sunapee Harbor's. The two-hour tie-up limit is enforced — this is a stop-in dock, not day storage — and dogs, bikes, and skateboards aren't allowed on the dock itself. The easiest lunch move in Newbury: dock here, eat at Bubba's deck across the street, move the boat before the two hours run out.

A full-service marina on Route 103 that's covered sales and service on Lake Sunapee for more than thirty years — an authorized Moomba, Four Winns, and Harris dealer, with separate lines for sales and service. Rentals and accessories round out the operation for anyone not ready to buy. The service side has the area's longest institutional memory for what actually breaks on a lake boat after a hard summer, which counts for more than the showroom floor.

The state park's own launch, through a shallow channel behind a breakwater, with trailer parking that carries its own fee separate from the beach admission. Hours run 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. from mid-May through Labor Day, then daylight hours the rest of the year. It's the launch to use for a boat headed toward the ski-resort side of the lake rather than the harbor side — a different stretch of shoreline than Georges Mills or Sunapee Harbor reach easily.

A marine service shop with roots in Sunapee Harbor stretching back to the 1920s, though the business moved out of the harbor itself in 1988. Canvas work and upholstery repair are the specialty — the shop most boat owners call when a bimini top rips mid-July rather than waiting on a marina's general service queue. Towing and sunken-boat retrieval round out the emergency side. Worth having the number saved before a long day out, not after something goes wrong.

A narrated cruise around the full lake departing Sunapee Harbor, built around the story of the three inland lighthouses and the steamboat era that put them there in the 1890s. This is the version to book for a first visit — the history is specific rather than generic, down to which lighthouse ice destroyed and which one still stands on its original rock. Afternoon departures run through the summer; check the current schedule before planning a day around it.

A small wooden vessel with two covered decks running sunset dinner cruises out of Sunapee Harbor, buffet-style, catered by a restaurant in nearby Bradford rather than a shipboard galley. The slower pace and sunset timing make this the better choice over the narrated tour boat for a couple wanting quiet water time rather than running commentary. Reserve ahead — the dinner seatings are the smaller-capacity of the company's two boats and sell out on summer weekends.

The southernmost of the lake's three lighthouses, a white hexagonal tower at the tip of Burkehaven Island. Crushing ice destroyed the original structure in 1936; the rebuilt light stood on a failing wooden foundation for decades until the Lake Sunapee Protective Association completed a steel-foundation replacement engineered to last another sixty years. Visible from the M/V Mount Sunapee II's route and from the water near Burkehaven — there's no public dock to walk up to it.

Built in 1892 by the Woodsum brothers after a rival tour boat ran aground nearby, standing on a natural rock island rather than a man-made pier — which is why it's held up better structurally than its two sisters. The steamboat era that built all three lighthouses ran roughly 1880 to 1930, ferrying passengers and mail between the lake's grand hotels. Best seen from the water; there's no shore access, so a kayak or the tour boat is the only way to get close.

The third and newest of the lighthouses, built in the 1890s by the Woodsum family to mark Herrick Cove for steamboat traffic making the same circuit as the other two. Less photographed than Burkehaven or Loon Island simply because it sits farther from the harbor and the main tour route, which makes it the one locals mention first when asked which lighthouse tourists miss. Kayak access from Herrick Cove itself is the most direct way to see it up close.

Sixty-six trails for downhill skiing and riding in winter, on a mountain Vail Resorts bought into its portfolio alongside places like Stowe. The same terrain flips every summer to a canopy zip-line tour, downhill mountain biking, an aerial challenge course with 32 elements, disc golf, mini golf, and scenic chairlift rides — the Wild Goose Deli runs the summer food service at the base. This is the piece that makes the lake a genuine four-season rental market rather than a May-through-September one.

John Hay's summer retreat on the lake's eastern shore, 84 acres of formal gardens and lake frontage built by a man who served as personal secretary to Lincoln and later as Secretary of State. The 2026 season runs Wednesday through Sunday, June 17 through mid-September, 10 to 4, with weekend-only spring and fall hours around that. Hiking trails wind through the property beyond the formal garden rooms — worth a full afternoon, not just a quick walk-through.

One of the oldest continuously operating summer theaters in the country, staged inside a converted barn on Main Street with no seat more than 30 feet from the stage. Professional actors work alongside an apprentice company each season, which is most of the point for anyone who's followed a particular young performer's career. The 2026 season runs through its 94th year with a lineup that includes Chicago and Young Frankenstein. Air-conditioned, which matters more than it sounds on a July matinee.

The only Native American museum in New Hampshire, about twenty-five minutes from the lake in Warner, with a collection ranked among the ten best of its kind in the country. Open May through October, Monday through Saturday 10 to 4 and Sunday noon to 4, last admission at 3. The Dreamcatcher Gift Shop stocks work from contemporary Native artists rather than the tourist-trap version of the same idea. The best rainy-day answer in the region for a group that's done the breweries already.