Leaf Peeping Near Lake Winnipesaukee

If you want the close-in, short-effort version of fall here, start with a couple of easy hikes near Tuftonboro. This is the wider one: a full loop around the lake, plus a couple of ways to see the color from the water instead of the road.

The loop drive

The classic route circles Lake Winnipesaukee roughly 63 miles: starting in Alton, Route 11 to Gilford and Weirs Beach, on to Meredith and Center Harbor, around through Moultonborough and Tuftonboro, and finishing in Wolfeboro. You don’t need to do it in one sitting. Most visitors pick a section and treat it as a half-day drive with stops, rather than a single unbroken loop.

A few spots along it are worth planning around specifically: Wolfeboro’s town docks, where calm mornings reflect the surrounding hillside color right back off the water; and the Cotton Valley Rail Trail out of Wolfeboro, a converted rail corridor that runs through a tree-lined stretch that catches peak light particularly well.

Seeing it from the water

The M/S Mount Washington runs its regular scenic cruises through October, connecting the lake’s port towns: genuinely one of the better vantage points for fall color, since you’re seeing the shoreline from mid-lake rather than glimpsing it between trees along a road.

The Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad, based in Meredith, runs a longer fall foliage excursion up over Ashland Summit and through Bridgewater and Plymouth, with a stop for lunch: a slower, more of-an-occasion way to spend a fall afternoon than the drive.

When to go

Peak color in the Lakes Region typically lands in the first two to three weeks of October, but it moves with the weather each year. It’s worth checking a current foliage report in the days before you go rather than locking in a date months ahead.