Strafford / Lake Winnipesaukee South KOA Holiday Blog
Now Booking for the 2027 Season - May 7 - October 11!
Whether you’re exploring the local area or hanging out at the campground, KOA Holidays are an ideal place to relax and play. There’s plenty to do, with amenities and services to make your stay memorable. Plus, you’ll enjoy the outdoor experience with upgraded RV Sites with KOA Patio® and Deluxe Cabins with full baths for camping in comfort. Bring your family, bring your friends, or bring the whole group – there’s plenty of ways to stay and explore.
Whether you’re exploring the local area or hanging out at the campground, KOA Holidays are an ideal place to relax and play. There’s plenty to do, with amenities and services to make your stay memorable. Plus, you’ll enjoy the outdoor experience with upgraded RV Sites with KOA Patio® and Deluxe Cabins with full baths for camping in comfort. Bring your family, bring your friends, or bring the whole group – there’s plenty of ways to stay and explore.
From Route 16 North, take exit 14, Ten Rod Road. At the end of the ramp, bear right, then turn right at the lights. Go 1/8 mile and between Home Depot and Burger King, turn right onto Twombley St. Go 4/10 mile to end. Turn Right on 202A West. Go 2 1/2 miles to a blinking light at the four corners and go straight through. In 1/2 mile, bear left onto 202A and go 2 miles to First Crown Point Road, turn right. The campground is on your left in a 1/4 mile. (If coming from Route 16 south, take exit 15 and turn left at the end of the ramp.)
GPS: N43.284099, W71.070311
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Lake Winnipesaukee covers about 72 square miles and holds more than 250 islands, so trying to see the whole lake in one weekend usually means a weekend in the car. Camping near Lake Winnipesaukee works better when you treat the lake as a series of day trips: Alton Bay one morning, Wolfeboro another afternoon, and a cruise or a paddle when the weather cooperates. Strafford / Lake Winnipesaukee South KOA Holiday, at 79 First Crown Point Road in Strafford, gives you 46 wooded acres to come back to between outings. This guide covers which site to book, which lake towns to visit, how to plan a water day, when fall color usually arrives and what to pack for a 2027 Lakes Region trip.
Camping a short drive from Lake Winnipesaukee gets you more space, more to do at camp and easier access to the rest of New Hampshire than most shoreline lodging does. Waterfront rentals on the big lake book early and cost the most in July and August. A campground in Strafford puts you in quieter woods, and the lake is still just a morning drive.
The location also puts the rest of the state in reach. Approximate drive times from Strafford:
That range helps most on rainy days and during foliage season, when better conditions may be somewhere other than the lake. With a shoreline rental, you're tied to one spot. From a campground, you can change plans the night before.
Then there's the campground itself. Strafford KOA's 6-acre spring-fed pond has a sandy beach and free rowboats, paddle boats, kayaks and canoes for registered guests. You get water time without towing a boat or paying a marina. When the big lake is choppy or crowded, the pond is the easy backup. The full list of on-site activities is on the Strafford KOA recreation page.
The right site at Strafford KOA depends on three things: whether you're bringing an RV, how cold the nights will be, and how much of the trip you'll spend at camp. The campground offers five main types:
One packing detail first-timers miss: Deluxe Cabins and Lodges are bring-your-own-bedding, so pack sheets or sleeping bags, pillows and towels.
For summer trips, tent and RV sites are the classic choice. Evenings are warm, and the H2O Fun Zone is open. For fall trips, think harder about overnight temperatures. Lakes Region nights in early October often drop into the 30s and 40s, and a cabin with its own bathroom makes a cold early morning far more bearable.
Check-in is at 3 p.m. and check-out is at 11 a.m. If you're arriving after a long drive, keep the first evening low-key and save the lake for day two. Use the campground map to pick a site close to the pond, near the playground, or in a quieter corner.
Alton Bay and Wolfeboro are the best Lake Winnipesaukee day trips from Strafford. Pick one per day to keep the trip relaxed. Driving all the way around the lake takes most of a day, and you see more windshield than shoreline.
Alton Bay is the closest lake access from Strafford, at the narrow southern tip of the lake. Between the bandstand, the waterfront and the boat docks, it makes an easy half-day: walk the shore, eat lunch, and be back at camp by mid-afternoon. The M/S Mount Washington was launched here in 1872, and Alton Bay is still one of its listed ports of call.
Wolfeboro calls itself the oldest summer resort in America, and its downtown is built for walking. Plan on the shops along Main Street, lunch with a lake view and a walk along the town docks. Add a swim, a paddle or a cruise and it becomes a full-day trip. The M/S Mount Washington offers seasonal departures from Wolfeboro.
Weirs Beach and Meredith, on the western side of the lake, are about an hour or more from Strafford. Weirs Beach is the Mount Washington's main summer port, with daily departures. Save these towns for a longer stay or a full lake loop rather than a quick outing.
For a weekend laid out hour by hour, see our 2-day Lakes Region itinerary from Strafford KOA.
Plan a water day near Lake Winnipesaukee by choosing between the big lake and the campground pond, because they're very different trips. The lake has the scale, the cruises and the boat rentals. The pond has free boats, no launch fees and a beach a short walk from your site.
For the lake, you have three main options:
The pond is simpler. Strafford KOA's free boats include rowboats, paddle boats, kayaks and canoes, and paddleboards are available to rent. The pond is catch-and-release, so bring a rod if the kids want to fish. The campground also holds an annual fishing derby. From Opening Day through Labor Day, the H2O Fun Zone adds a twisting waterslide that drops into a flume and a splash park with 12 water features, along with an outdoor pool.
Many families split the day: the lake in the morning, then the pond and pool in the afternoon. That keeps drive time short and gets younger kids out of the car.
July and August are the best months to camp near Lake Winnipesaukee for swimming and water activities. Late September and early October are best for fall foliage and quieter weekends. Which to pick depends on whether the trip is about the water or the scenery.
Here's how the season typically breaks down at Strafford KOA:
Because peak color overlaps with closing week, book a fall 2027 trip early. Columbus Day weekend and the weekends before it fill first. In the days before your trip, check Visit New Hampshire's foliage tracker to decide where to drive. For routes, see our guide to the best fall day trips from Strafford, NH.
When you pack for a Lakes Region camping trip, plan for a 30-degree drop between the afternoon high and the overnight low, especially in spring and fall. A sunny 70-degree October afternoon can turn into a 38-degree night.
Here's a practical packing list:
If you plan to hike, Blue Job Mountain has a fire tower at the top of a short, steady climb, and Parker Mountain offers a longer loop through the woods. Our guide to hiking near Strafford, NH covers trail distances and what to expect. For more ideas at camp and nearby, see our list of family things to do near Strafford, NH.
Strafford / Lake Winnipesaukee South KOA Holiday is about 30 minutes by car from Alton Bay, the closest Lake Winnipesaukee town, and about 45 minutes from Wolfeboro on the eastern shore. Drive times vary with traffic and route. On days you stay at camp, the campground's pond, free boats and pool cover your time on the water.
Yes. Strafford KOA offers tent sites, glamping tents, Deluxe Cabins with full bathrooms, and Deluxe Lodges, along with RV sites. Glamping tents and cabins are the easiest options for first-timers or anyone without gear. Cabins and lodges are bring-your-own-bedding, and they're the most comfortable choice for cold late-season nights.
Strafford KOA has a 6-acre spring-fed pond with a sandy beach, free rowboats, paddle boats, kayaks and canoes, and catch-and-release fishing. In summer, the H2O Fun Zone waterslide, splash park and outdoor pool are open through Labor Day. There's also an arcade, a playground, gaga ball, bocce, horseshoes, gem mining and themed weekends.
Strafford KOA typically opens in early May and closes in mid-October. The 2026 season ended October 13. Check the campground's booking page for confirmed 2027 dates before planning a trip, especially if you're aiming for the last weeks of foliage season.
Yes, fall is one of the best times. Days are mild, weekends are quieter after Labor Day, and Lakes Region foliage usually peaks in early to mid-October. Pack warm layers for cold nights and book early, because the weekends before the campground's mid-October closing fill first.
Summer weekends and the last two weeks of foliage season book first at Strafford KOA, so planning now gives you the widest choice of cabins and pond-side sites. Reserve your 2027 site at Strafford KOA, and check the events calendar for themed weekends.
About the property: Strafford / Lake Winnipesaukee South KOA Holiday sits on 46 wooded acres in Strafford, NH, with a spring-fed pond, free boats and a short drive to Lake Winnipesaukee, the Seacoast and the White Mountains.
That doesn't mean this area has to always be empty. When you start reviewing camping options, your history will display here to help compare sites and find the best stay. You will be able to share your stay information with friends or family and save it for a later time if you have a KOA Account.
Make checkout easy by booking all your reservations at once. Add your sites from different campgrounds into your shopping cart* and then choose checkout.
