Southern NH Lake Access / Opinions on "Private Lakes"

I don’t know man, let me break it down for you.

Limited access for small amounts of people to actually be able to get out on this lake. From my limited knowledge of the lake it would appear that it’s somewhere between 100 and 200 acres. Am I right? That’s not a tiny tiny lake, especially if the other lakes in the area all have big power boats.

Not sure why you went into so much detail about all the different gated lake features. The fact that there isn’t a secondary access point that is open can be seen by some as problematic.

Finally, a group of 28 people (not sure why you call out this specific number, did you count them?) is out of control on all but the largest of lakes. In this one instance, the large group was in the wrong, but gating off all access isn’t right either.

yes, I counted while looking for the leader and or the local association event sponsor, exactly 28 kayaks spread paddling in a marching line from shore to shore, overrunning the space a loon family was swimming in. After their turn around I stayed back to monitor a couple of kayaks that thought they could approach the loons as if they were friends and pets to chase and watch them dive to as they were chased and approached too close multiple times. That was a major point to be mentioned in the letter sent to the club “leader”. As "experienced club Adirondack paddlers they certainly should have known better.

Lake Association here is mostly chill, but mess with the Loons and you’ll be introduced to the DNR post-haste.

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He was clear that he not only counted them but attempted to find a member of the lake association among them. Didn’t need to be asked again.

A geoup of paddlers that large, this time of year, is not wildly unusual for some clubs.

I may or may not have felt this lake association should find a way to allow some outsiders. But blowing thru loon nesting areas, or scaring very young seals into the water in the ocean, or any number of other such activities is more than adequate reason to ban a group.

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I read that loons are one of the oldest bird species still in existence in unchanged form. THAT’S pretty impressive.

Really, really old, too.

They seem curious too. Often pop up within 30 ft of the canoe to have a look, swim along side for a bit, and then back to fishing!

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Amherst has a town beach on Baboosic, Hampstead has a town beach on Wash Pond, and Deering has a town beach on the Deering reservoir. Hollis maintains a car top boat launch at the south end of Rocky Pond. And as you’ve probably noticed, the state’s fishing chart indicates there is a launch on Pine River Pond, but I’m not sure where. The access points are town managed and free for residents, but restrict access for non-residents. Usually, the golden ticket is a parking pass, because everyone is trying to manage limited parking spaces, not space on the water. Enforcement is inconsistent. Some towns like to keep their gates closed, some don’t. The bigger the town, the less likely you are to be noticed.

Millville in Salem has no public access. It’s also tiny and developed. Little Island Pond has no public access either and the shoreline is fully developed except for the girl scout camp.

I’m not familiar with the others. Since they are further west, they might not be as crowded. The closer you get to Boston, the more money is available for people to chase their lakefront living dreams. On Arlington Mills in Salem, there are multi-million dollar homes going up amongst the old 3-season cottages, big boats to go nowhere, and an air of pretense.

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Ah so you’re familiar with these. For me, Baboosic is the closest and I know it sometimes has a launch fee for non-residents which is fine for like the one or two times I ever want to got there. The others are a little more uncertain but at least they have town access.

Pine River Pond is really unfortunate given the size of the pond. Millville is completely developed and just reading the pages and posts by their association, they do sound a little douchey and Karen-y but that’s just one guy’s opinion. It’s not a target lake for me anyways. Little Island Pond you might be able to access late in the season from the camp side once all the kids are back in school I would assume.

Arlington Mills was probably the weirdest experience I’ve had on a kayak so far. The size of the houses and boats on a lake this size completely blew me away. That and one guy doing like 50 in an area where the lake was maybe 100-200 feet wide. I clicked it off my list and I’m really not in a hurry to go back. Besides I have SO many other places I have to hit and the goal is really exploration and doing as many as possible. The research is only one piece of the puzzle.

I live in Derry. Arlington Mill Reservoir (aka Arlington Pond) is as maxed out as it gets. There’s not a place you could fit another house & dock. In recent years they’ve had some summers spoiled by algae blooms. But it’s reportedly a nice place to live and homes are rarely offered for sale. The neighborhoods around the lake are quiet and woodsy with mostly modest but well kept homes.

When somebody new does get a chance to own lakefront, usually after a long time resident passes on, it often means a little cottage with old trees and rocky shoreline is getting hauled away to make room for a larger home with concrete break walls and a dock big enough for all their watercraft. I guess it was always a playground for skiers, tubers, and jet skis. But it’s busier now than it used to be.

It’s also in the character of Salem. Their drinking water reservoir (Canobie lake) has a fully developed shoreline and a major amusement park on it. The entire east shore of Wilson’s Pond was recently developed into a major new housing tract. Rt 111 used to run right next to Shadow Lake, and the 30-50’ wide strip of land between the road and the pond was packed with cottages. For decades those people tolerated traffic jams just outside their window every morning and semis rolling by at all times of the day and night, just to be on a crowded little pond. It’s in the town’s character to overbuild. Look what they did to Rt 28, and the redevelopment of Rockingham park.

BTW and FWIW, my favorite local spot is Pawtuckaway. I’m sure it’s on your list, if you haven’t paddled it already. I also like Massabesic, but the kids get frustrated by the don’t touch the water rule. Most of the smaller bodies around here aren’t worth the hassle and/or cost to access them.

I haven’t paddled the ponds in Kingston yet, but I expect they will be worth it.

Pawtuckaway is on my list as a lake to do. I’ve been to Canobie and I thought it was nothing at all like Arlington Mills. It was near the end of the day and the lake was super quiet. I don’t get the no touching the water rule. It is a little extreme but there’s no way they can actually enforce it, especially with how the launch looks like. They could invest a small amount of money to build a dock launch by the shore.

The day I went to Canobie the guy launching ahead of me was putting in a sea kayak he had never used and pretty much fell in the water. It’s not like the water cops are there to slap you as soon as something happens. My trip to Pittsburg starts this weekend so I won’t have to worry about any of these private lake mansion owners.

I bought golf clubs so a friend and I could fart around on that little golf course that was at the t intersection where 111 went left toward Canobie. I’m sure you remember that place. It was prefect size for people like us who didn’t really care that much about serious golf courses.

Yeah Salem is insanely overdeveloped. I had the same vibe at Cobbetts Pond in Windham that all these other rich Mass residents came up to build McMansions right next to each other on every shore and then close the lakes off to anyone else.

Yes, I do remember Applewood. It was right at the intersection of 111 and 111A. I played there once when I first moved to the area 20 years ago, and hit balls at the driving range, but don’t remember the holes too well. Surprisingly, the land it was on never got developed.

Expect crowds at Pawtuckaway on weekends. Although the shoreline is only half developed, the campground pulls a lot of visitors. So if you want a quiet paddle on a summer weekend, go early. It’s better in September after Labor Day. So is everywhere I guess.

Massabesic has two docks you can launch from. There’s the Candia Road boat launch on the north side, not to far from Front Park. It mostly sees fishing boats. There’s also a floating dock and kayak launch at Claire’s Landing on the east side. The kayak launch is there for ADA compliance I think. I would not use it, but the dock there is convenient. You can also launch from shore next to Deerneck Bridge which is more convenient to access the western parts of the lake, but if you don’t wear muck boots you might have an enforcer call you out about the no wading rule. Or so I’ve heard. I haven’t run into any myself, other than at the boat launch where their concern is bilge water and washing (invasive species).

The rules at Massabesic are just beyond stupid. You can’t touch the water, but they allow power boats on it that spew all kinds of crap into the water. Do they not think that people who are out fishing aren’t touching the water, likely peeing in it, tossing food in it, etc?

Then you’ve got a big chunk of the lake that’s cordoned off with a line of buoys down the middle, where no boats of any kind are allowed. Sure, as if the water from the open side doesn’t flow into to the closed side. Really? None of it makes any sense whatsoever.

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Small town politicians, agency bureaucrats, NIMBYs, and a mishmash of other synaptically challenged folks trying to prove their importance.

I am used to rules against swimming, bathing, and wading at drinking water reservoirs. The no touch rule is over the top, but I haven’t run into unreasonable enforcement.

The lack of access to the western shore is a much bigger annoyance. As you can see from the map here, everything west of the town/county line is off-limits, including a fair bit of land and fire roads:

I don’t think the keep out zones can be justified based on protecting the watershed or the Manchester Water Works infrastructure. The MWW seems to pursue a policy of least access, which they they get away with in Manchester where they have clout. I guess the people in Manchester and Hillsborough County are fine with no access to the lake whatsoever in their jurisdiction.

Over the border in Auburn, it’s a different story, one of providing access and promoting recreation. There remains a concession to the MWW, who extend their keep-out zone to the back side of the Rocky Point peninsula, minus a house or two. I would love to talk to those owners and hear what kind of hassle they get from MWW.

It’s the same thing at Canobie where they actually have big signs that say touching the water at all is a form of misdemeanor. Seriously guys?! Then their launch is a set of ragged cobbles. No way you can launch without touching water with at least one foot. I even saw a guy fall in there recently with a kayak that was new to him. At least the water cops aren’t just sitting there waiting for you to make water contact to throw on the cuffs.

There’s a very patient guy sitting in a truck with binoculars. He will wait a very long time for you to return to shore if you cross the invisible line into the water supply part of the lake or if your skin touches the water when you enter or exit.

Getting back to the OP’s original question, this is from the Concord Monitor: “By law, all New Hampshire’s lakes and ponds greater than ten acres, plus navigable rivers and tidal waters are held in public trust ‘for the use and benefit of the state.’ However, not all public waters have public access, and it can be difficult to suss out what activities are allowed at those that do.” The article goes on to describe the different types of access and the access rules, depending on who controls the access.

https://www.concordmonitor.com/Dublin-Lake-access-rules-clarified-by-town-counsel-41211140

My understanding is that the state has been buying land and building ramps for years to fulfill the access mandate, but that’s a very long process.

OP, I think it would help you to define what kind of kayaking experience you want to have. Southern New Hampshire is very built up and there just aren’t that many lakes compared to other parts of the state. The Lakes Region has plenty of lakes, but they’re overrun with powerboats on summer weekends. Grafton Pond used to be a real gem, but now is overrun with kayaks—yes, that’s a thing in the last 10 years. Up north there’s Umbagog, a very long drive for you.

For me the solutions are to only kayak midweek in New Hampshire, avoid southern New Hampshire, seek out more remote lakes in Maine whenever possible, and paddle spring and fall. I also scout out lesser known ponds. The weather is also a limiting factor. Recent horribly hot and humid summers mean I kayak the rest of the year or at 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. in the summer. A more radical but good solution for devoted kayakers is to . . . move.

New Hampshire used to offer many tranquil paddling opportunities. That can still be had, if you change when and where you paddle. For me kayaking is synonymous with solitude and tranquility and seeing very few if any houses.

Which lake is this? Massabesic? I haven’t been there yet.