New Hampshire's largest lake runs about 21 miles long, covers 69 square miles, and holds at least 258 islands. Most first visits land at Weirs Beach in Laconia, where a 1,300-foot boardwalk rebuilt after the 2008 floods fronts the water and arcades, bumper cars, and fried dough stack up across Lakeside Avenue. The M/S Mount Washington docks mid-boardwalk for a narrated scenic loop of roughly two and a half hours, calling at Wolfeboro, Meredith, Center Harbor, and Alton Bay on rotating days. On the east shore, Wolfeboro has billed itself America's oldest summer resort since Governor John Wentworth built his lake estate there in the 1760s, and its Main Street runs quieter than the Weirs. Cruises sail May into October; July and August fill the lots, the weeks after Labor Day are the sweet spot, and lakeside foliage peaks in early to mid October. Endicott Rock Park parking is metered hourly in season.
Highlights
21 mi long, 69 sq mi180 ft at its deepestScenic cruises May to OctFoliage early to mid OctWeirs Beach boardwalkMetered parking in season
Everglades National Park protects 1.5 million acres of subtropical wilderness at the southern tip of Florida, the largest such ecosystem in North America. It is the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles coexist, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site home to manatees, wading birds, and the elusive Florida panther. Visitors can walk the famed Anhinga Trail, paddle mangrove waterways, or take an airboat-free ranger tour through the 'River of Grass.'
Located almost 70 miles west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, Dry Tortugas National Park is a remote cluster of seven small islands reachable only by ferry or seaplane. Its centerpiece is Fort Jefferson, one of the nation's largest 19th-century masonry forts, surrounded by crystal-clear waters renowned for snorkeling, coral reefs, and shipwrecks. The park is also a haven for nesting seabirds and migratory birds.
One of Florida's oldest and largest state parks, Myakka spreads 37,000 acres of wetlands, prairies, and hammocks along the slow Myakka River east of Sarasota. Climb the canopy walkway, the first public treetop trail in North America, suspended 25 feet up with a tower above the oaks, then board one of the giant airboats for an alligator-lined cruise on Upper Myakka Lake. Winter brings cooler air and crowds of wading birds.
