What to Do in the Lakes Region This April
Mud, magic, and the moment the lakes wake up
We’re writing this on the cusp of spring. It’s almost April. This is the time of year when the snow is gone from the fields but still stubborn in the shaded hollows. When the peepers are starting up at night and the songbirds are making their presence felt in the mornings. And when everyone in the region is watching the same thing: the ice on Lake Winnipesaukee.
April here has a pulse. It’s not quiet. It’s waiting.
Ice-Out
If you’re new to the Lakes Region, or you’ve been thinking about it from a distance, here’s a ritual worth knowing: ice-out on Lake Winnipesaukee is one of the defining events of the year. Dave Emerson of Emerson Aviation in Gilford has been flying his Cessna over the lake to track it since the 1970s. When the five ports the M/S Mount Washington serves are completely clear, he makes the call. The whole region exhales.
After two solid winters in a row, NH Fish and Game is projecting mid-to-late April ice-out dates for the central Lakes Region this year. You can enter the Winnipesaukee.com guessing contest if you want to put your money where your intuition is. Open-water fishing season on Winnipesaukee, Big Squam, Newfound, Ossipee, Winnisquam, and the other landlocked salmon lakes officially starts April 1st, ice or no ice, and plenty of people are already working the shorelines and open sections before full ice-out.
It’s worth tracking if you’re around. The lake’s mood changes almost immediately after. Here’s a round up of things to do while we’re waiting.
Farm & Nature
Baa Baa Bash: Welcome Spring on the Farm at Brookford Farm, Canterbury NH. Every weekend in April, Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Brookford is a working farm in Canterbury, just south of the Lakes Region, and this is their spring welcome event. Lambing season, farm animals, the whole thing. It’s a good excuse to get out of the house and into something that smells like mud and straw and actual spring. Worth the short drive.
Squam Lakes Natural Science Center continues their spring programming as the season shifts from winter walks to warmer-weather offerings. Check nhnature.org for the current schedule.
Prescott Farm Environmental Education Center in Laconia continues spring birding programs. Pre-registration required; call 603-366-5695.
Events & Gatherings
Cider Tasting Weekend at Hermit Woods Winery, Meredith. April 3-5, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. A three-day cider tasting weekend at one of the region’s favorite wineries. Hermit Woods has been doing things right on Meredith’s main street for years, and a cider weekend in early April, before the season crowds arrive, is exactly the kind of low-key thing that makes off-season here feel like a feature rather than a footnote.
Sweepstakes by the Lake: Boots and Bucks, Church Landing, Meredith. Friday, April 10th, 6:30 to 11 p.m. This is the NH Lakes Region Tourism Association’s annual spring fundraiser, and this year’s theme is western. Dress the part or don’t. The ticket ($150, admits two) includes dinner, drinks, auctions, dancing, and a shot at a $10,000 grand prize. Only 225 tickets available. Reserve through Mill Falls at the Lake: (844) 745-2931.
Lakes Region Home Show, Belknap Marketplace, Belmont. April 17-18. Friday hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Local contractors, landscapers, energy efficiency vendors, and outdoor living folks all in one place. If you’re thinking about a property in the region, or already own one and are planning spring improvements, this is a useful stop.
Battle of the Brushes, Arts Council of Tamworth. April 24th. A competitive painting event where artists work from the same subject in real time. Check artstamworth.org for location and details. More fun to watch than you’d expect.
Wolfeboro Area Restaurant Week, April 17-25. Participating restaurants across Wolfeboro offer special menus throughout the week. A good reason to spend a day on the east side of the lake. Contact the Wolfeboro Area Chamber of Commerce for the full participant list: 603-569-2200.
Weekly Regulars Worth Knowing
April has a good set of recurring events that are easy to build a week around.
Acoustic Open Mic Night at the Hayloft at Hobbs Tavern, West Ossipee. Every Wednesday in April (April 1, 8, 15, 22, 29), 7 to 9 p.m. The Hayloft is a genuine venue in a genuine tavern, and the acoustic format means the sound is actually worth hearing. If you’ve never been to Hobbs Tavern, this is a fine reason to go.
Satya Yoga at the LakeHouse, Owl’s Nest Resort, Thornton. Every Wednesday, 6 to 7 p.m. Outdoor yoga on the edge of the Pemigewasset Wilderness, before the bugs arrive to complicate things. Worth knowing if that’s your kind of evening.
Plymouth Square Dance at the Barn on the Pemi, Plymouth. A monthly square dance series at one of the region’s best event venues. Check the Barn on the Pemi’s calendar for the April date and details.
Katie Dobbins Music & Hermit Woods Winery Songwriter Roundup, Meredith. Hermit Woods hosts a regular songwriter roundup series; check their site for the April date. Good wine, good original music, small crowd.
Hiking & Outdoors
Castle in the Clouds guided hikes continue in April. Brook Walk via Brook Trail is scheduled for April 11 and April 25, starting at 10:30 a.m. from the picnic pavilions by Shannon Pond. Pre-registration required at castleintheclouds.org or 603-476-5900. The trails are muddy but the views are already open. The estate’s full season begins in May; these hikes are the quieter way in before the crowds arrive.
Hiking in general comes back in force in April, though the north-facing slopes will still have ice patches and the dirt roads will remind you that mud season is real. The woods smell like something waking up. Start with lower trails and work north as the month progresses.
Open-water fishing season: April 1st for the big lakes. The local tackle shops in Laconia, Meredith, and Wolfeboro will have current ice and water conditions. Don’t skip that call.
Arts & Culture
Castle in the Clouds has two special programs this month beyond the hiking. A Bewitched Acres Paint & Sip on April 18th, 3 to 4:30 p.m. (pre-register at castleintheclouds.org), and an Exploring the Art of Watercolor full-day class on April 25th, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., taught by Carole Shea. Both require pre-registration.
The Colonial Theatre, Laconia. Shows April 11, 17, 18, and 25. Check coloniallaconia.com for what’s on. This is a good venue that uses its calendar well.
Flying Monkey, Plymouth. Haus of Monsters, a Lady Gaga tribute, plays April 18th at 7:30 p.m. A Kill Bill double feature runs April 22nd, Volume 1 at 2 p.m. and Volume 2 at 6 p.m. The Flying Monkey remains one of the better small performance venues in the region.
Dining
Restaurants in the region are shifting into pre-season hours in April. Some that went to reduced winter schedules are starting to extend. Some are experimenting with their spring menus before the summer pace sets in.
Wolfeboro Restaurant Week, April 17-25, is the most organized version of this. The full participant list is at the Wolfeboro Chamber website. And, on April 4th, a new restaurant locals are excited about, Samuel Avery’s Tavern at the Pickering House is opening up.
Hermit Woods Winery in Meredith is running its cider tasting weekend April 3-5 and has regular music events throughout the month. Their kitchen, Sweet Mercy, does food worth staying for.
Walter’s Basin in Holderness comes back to life on the water as the season opens. Local Eatery in Laconia is year-round. Giuseppe’s at Mill Falls in Meredith keeps going with nightly live music.
April is the month when the question shifts from “will winter end” to “what will spring actually feel like here.” It answers itself slowly. The ice goes. The peepers start. The mud dries. The water opens.
If you’re visiting or planning a trip, save this. If you live here and want to know what’s happening as the lake wakes up, same. And if you’re somewhere else looking at this and wondering what spring actually feels like in the Lakes Region rather than what it looks like in pictures, that’s a good question. One worth finding out.
Here’s to the lake letting go.
🧭 Jenn & Andrea
Keys to the Lakes
