Explore New England: "The Colors of Winni" TV Episode
 

Check out the new Explore New England episode on Lake Winnipesaukee feat. LWA President Pat Tarpey. The episode originally aired on 10/9/22 on NESN but is now available to watch and share on YouTube.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH

"Fall excursions on and around Lake Winnipesaukee include a pontoon-boat trip to Wolfeboro and Alton Bay, unique local wine-making with Hermit Woods Winery, paddling to Ragged Island with the Lake Winnipesaukee Association, hiking famous Mount Major, and a visit to curious Kimball Castle."

Starting about 18-minutes into this high quality video, it suggests the Town of Meredith's Cattle Landing town dock and parking lot as a good place to park your car, and unload a rooftop kayak (free parking, no trailers allowed). Paddling along the picturesque Lake Winnipesaukee shoreline for two miles to the Stonedam Island Conservation dock and walking their trails in the early morning sun that rises behind Gunstock Mountain, one will truly appreciate the smile of the great spirit .... :) .... named Lake Winnipesaukee.

This is an excellent suggestion on the Cattle Landing town dock and parking lot, one acre, unpaved, room for 40-cars as an underused entry spot for paddlers to access the big lake. Paddling just 250-yards will get you to the shoreline of three mile long Bear Island and the opportunity to paddle the six mile Bear Island perimeter close to the shoreline and safely away from the powerboats where you paddle past numerous island homes and two summer camps and the Town of Meredith's Post Office dock at the north end of Bear Island within the no wake zone. It is not unusual for kayak paddlers to avoid paddling Lake Winnipesaukee because of the powerboats but this Bear Island 6-mile perimeter paddle is fun, safe, and beautiful for paddling the shallow rocky shorelines, where the powerboats don't go.

FLL, the video mentions launching from Harilla landing and paddling one mile south to Ragged Island. I'd like to do this, but that launch is private, is it not?

Way down the very end of Moultonborough Neck and immediately to the left of www.harilla.org you will be very pleased to see a TOTALLY FREE unimproved dirt boat launch area named Harilla's Landing that belongs to the State of New Hampshire, Dept of Transportation that is a "road to public waters".

Looking at the big photo in the above website, it is the waterfront lot of land that is all dirt with no trees that extends out into the water, a wee bit with location, location, location!

Thank you, FLL. There's a good photo of this launch at https://explorenewengland.tv/paddle/...saukee-island/

Looks like an interesting paddle. I might not do it this year because it appears to about a 3/4-mile open water crossing to Ragged Island, which I shouldn't do this late in the fall. Tomorrow sure looks tempting though! I'm looking for new places to paddle.

The Harilla's Landing boat launch/construction barge staging place for heavy equipment, NH-DOT is very different from a NH Fish and Game boat launch. It is about 1/4-acre, with no nothing except the brown dirt that's there and a rough boat ramp and a rock wharf designed for loading heavy equipment onto a barge provided you have the needed ramps for loading a large excavator, or something.

It has a permanent dock large enough for one boat to get loaded/unloaded.

It looks like a construction zone, NH-DOT orange sign area you might see at a road construction zone. Plus, there is no public parking there except for along side the road ....... more information is needed here to describe Harilla's Landing???

Does it get much use?

Thanks for the link. I thoroughly enjoyed that! I was pleased to hear they they haven't given up on Kimball's Castle.