The trails are located on College Road - which is off of Rt 25B. As you are driving down College Road the dirt driveway is located on the right hand side - you want to park in the West Parking Lot. There are signs that mark to the beach and campsites however, they are sporadic. I would print off a map before you head out. Even though all the trails do essentially make a loop, it is nice to know where you are heading! You can find a map here.
We started off on the West Fire Trail to the East Swamp Trail to the Swamp Walk. The walk was easy with a gradual slope with only a few rocks and roots. The board walk is brand new and goes across a swamp with lots of great insects and fauna to look at. There are, however, no rails on the boardwalk and my 2 year old did go overboard into the muddy, murky water - luckily she wasn't hurt - just muddy!
We then continued along the beach trail to a small beach right on Squam Lake. The beach did need to be raked - there were lots of dead leaves and pine needles. Another mom whom went with us said the beach is usually sandy and raked. The views, however, are fabulous!
Sassy Sis was happy to get to the beach to rinse off the swamp muck at the beach!
Once out into the water it was nice and sandy. The little ones could go out quite a way before it became too deep. It was a perfect stop to cool off on a really hot day!
There were even some big rocks along the beach where you could sit and have some lunch.
On the way home we followed the beach trail to the West Side Fire Road. There were signs posted along the way for the parking lot. Again the trail was wide and with a gradual incline on the way back to the car. My 26 month old managed all but the last 5 minutes of the walk on her own!
We spent just about 3 hours there which included the hike, swimming, and stopping for lunch. You know it was a great morning when both little ones were fast asleep before we hit the main road!
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