Weirs Beach

About

Weirs Beach is a public beach and lake resort village on the southwest shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, in the city of Laconia, New Hampshire. It has drawn summer visitors since the late 1800s and is built around a sand beach, a boardwalk along the water, and a strip of arcades, shops, and food stands on Lakeside Avenue.

The boardwalk runs about a quarter mile along Lakeside Avenue, with benches and views across the lake toward the Ossipee Mountains. The MS Mount Washington, an excursion boat run by the Winnipesaukee Flagship Company, has its main summer dock on the boulevard and runs cruises around the lake. The Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad also stops nearby and runs along the shore in summer and fall. Funspot, one of the larger arcades in the country, sits just up Route 3 from the beach.

Most people spend an afternoon on the sand or walking the boardwalk, longer if they add a boat or train ride. The city charges for parking in the two main lots, Endicott Rock Park and Lakeside Avenue, from the Saturday before Memorial Day through Columbus Day, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Drivers with a handicapped placard or plate do not have to pay, though normal time limits still apply. Laconia Motorcycle Week fills the area with riders each June and can mean heavier traffic and fuller lots.

Weirs Beach sits in the Lakes Region of central New Hampshire, close to downtown Laconia and across the lake from Meredith and Gilford. Motels, cottages, and campgrounds line the roads leading into the village, and the beach stays busiest from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Accessibility

Weirs Beach is partly accessible: the paved boardwalk works well for wheelchairs, but the sand beach itself has no documented accessible path or beach wheelchair program.

Parking: the city runs two paid lots for the beach, at Endicott Rock Park and along Lakeside Avenue. Drivers with a handicapped placard or plate do not have to pay for parking, though the usual time limits still apply. Neither lot's page describes where marked accessible spaces are located, so it is worth asking an attendant when you arrive.

Getting around: the boardwalk along the beach is flat, paved, and built to be wheelchair accessible, running about a quarter mile along Lakeside Avenue. The sand and shoreline are not addressed on any source we checked, and the city does not publish information on ramps, mats, or accessible restrooms at the beach itself.

Services: some of the restaurants and shops along the boardwalk have accessible entrances and restrooms, though this varies business to business since many of the buildings are older. We found no record of a beach wheelchair loan program at Weirs Beach specifically.

Practical tips: call ahead to the number on file for Weirs Beach, (603) 527-1270, to confirm current conditions and ask which boardwalk restrooms are accessible. Expect the lots to fill fastest during Laconia Motorcycle Week in June and on summer weekends.

Checked by Accessible America, August 2026. Report a change

More accessible places in New Hampshire

• Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park (Cornish)
• Jackson (Mount Washington Valley) (Jackson)
• Currier Museum of Art (Manchester)
• McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center (Concord)
• SEE Science Center (Manchester)
• Strawbery Banke Museum (Portsmouth)

Photo credits

• The Weirs Beach arrow sign towers over a paved plaza with the sandy beach visible below.: Rob Boudon, CC BY 2.0 (source)
• A paved lakeside boardwalk with a railing, lamppost and benches runs along Weirs Beach.: Magicpiano, CC BY-SA 3.0 (source)
• The M.V. Mount Washington steamship docked at the wharf with passengers boarding at Weirs.: Tichnor Brothers, Publisher, Public domain (source)