Everything worth doing.Within 20 minutes.

The only full-service restaurant on Squam, tucked on the Little Squam channel with docks for guests who arrive by boat instead of car. The name is a nod to Walter, the trout Billy spends the summer chasing in "On Golden Pond" — a detail most diners miss on their way to the lobster roll. Scallops and the chowder are the safe order; the deck fills first on a July Friday.

The white-tablecloth option on Squam, inside the Van Horn estate on Manor Drive — reservations run through the property's online system, not a phone call, and the dining room doesn't seat guests under 12. A wood-burning fireplace anchors the main room, with a terrace for warmer nights and a wine list that earned the estate a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in 2025. Open Wednesday through Sunday only.

The original Common Man, open in Ashland since 1971 and the reason the small New Hampshire chain exists at all. Meatloaf, baked mac and cheese, and a Nantucket pie regulars order before they've sat down — comfort food, not a lake-view production. The upstairs lounge has a wood stove and parlor games for the wait; Squam Scoops opened across the courtyard for the ice cream after.

The nearest real brewery to Squam, about fifteen minutes east in Meredith inside a barn frame that dates to the 1850s. The head brewer runs traditional lagers and farmhouse styles alongside the expected West Coast IPA, with a biergarten for the beers that are better outside. Closed Tuesdays, which catches people off guard mid-week; otherwise open to 9 most nights with a full food menu.

The clifftop view everyone means when they say "the Rattlesnake hike" — a two-mile round trip up the Old Bridle Path to a broad ledge at 1,293 feet, looking straight down over Squam's islands. Easy enough for kids, popular enough that the Route 113 lot fills by nine on a summer Saturday. Leashed dogs are fine here; keep going on the ridge trail for East Rattlesnake if the group wants more.

A loop most locals rate above West Rattlesnake once the initial crowds thin out — two connected peaks in the Sandwich Range with a short ladder section near the top and views that take in both Squam and Winnipesaukee from the same ledge. Rated among the harder trails on the Squam Lakes Association's own list, not a stroller hike. Start early; the loop takes most of a morning.

The only store on Squam with its own dock — tie up past Walter's Basin and walk the path in. Deli sandwiches, prepared dinners that just need reheating, and an espresso bar pouring Cafe Monte Alto, roasted twenty minutes south in Plymouth. Fresh seafood comes in Wednesdays and Fridays. Open daily, 7:30 to 6, which covers both the coffee run and the last-minute bottle of wine before dinner.

In the same Route 3 location since the early 1900s, run by the Daigneault family since 1987 — pontoons, Boston Whalers, and outboards for rent, plus a fuel dock and Mercury- and Evinrude-certified mechanics if something on a private boat needs fixing mid-week. The default rental outfit locals send visitors to first, before Holderness Harbor or the Association's kayaks.

A full-service marina at the north end of the Route 3 strip, with a no-wake cove for boathouse and open-slip rentals plus a ship store and showers for anyone staying aboard. The rental fleet runs from kayaks to bow riders, covering a week's spread of ability levels in one family. Open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 to 4 — call ahead for a slip on a holiday weekend.

Live native New Hampshire wildlife on a woodland trail — black bears and mountain lions among them — plus the Discover Squam Cruise on a canopied pontoon boat, ninety minutes, reservations required and paid in advance. Book the loon-focused version if the schedule lines up: a biologist from the Loon Preservation Committee rides along some Mondays and Fridays in summer. Park at the Science Center on Route 113 and walk the crossing path to the cruise dock.

The gallery that gives Center Sandwich its identity — founded in 1926 as Sandwich Home Industries and now the founding-member shop of the League of NH Craftsmen, juried pottery, glass, and woodwork on Main Street across from the town green. Open seasonally, mid-May through mid-October only, so a January drive-through means storefronts with the shades down. The town runs its Artisans on the Green fair here every August.