Beaches bursting at the seams on a glorious Fourth

LACONIA — It was a day at the beach that was hard to beat. And thousands of people flocked to the water’s edge around the Lakes Region to enjoy the Fourth of July holiday, pushing beach capacity to the limits and even beyond.

Ellacoya State Park in Gilford, was turning away beachgoers by 9:30 a.m., according to Gilford Police Sgt. Eric Bredbury, who was stationed at the entrance of the park which has a 600-foot beach on Lake Winnipesaukee.

All but two of the state’s 20 inland beaches were at capacity, according to Brent Wucher, public information and marketing officer for the state Department of Parks and Recreation. He said Friday his office would have actual attendance figures on Monday.

Bredbury said by 6:30 a.m. traffic had come to a standstill on Route 11 at the entrance to Ellacoya. Park officials opened the gates early because of the crowds and by 9:30 the beach could not accommodate any more people, he said. Some people were able to park on the grassy island that separates Route 11 from Scenic Drive, near the park entrance.

Weirs Beach was packed as well. The throng of residents and visitors was about 50 people shy of the beach’s 2,200 person capacity, Amy Lovisek, Laconia’s recreation facilities director, said.

“It was very crowded,” she said.

The parking lot at the beach opened up at 7 a.m. she said, and by 7:30 all 67 spaces were taken.

The city’s four other beaches were busy, but unlike Weirs Beach, they were not jammed, Lovisek said.

It was an ideal beach day with clear skies and temperatures reaching into the mid-80s, according to the National Weather Service weather recording equipment at the Laconia Municipal Airport. In the bright sunshine the temperature felt about 10 degrees warmer.

At Wellington State Beach on Newfound Lake in Bristol there was a waiting line to get into the park, said Wucher, who lives nearby. He said park personnel and Bristol police, stationed at the park entrance, informed visitors how long they would have to wait for a parking space. While the wait was long at times, no one was turned away from Wellington, Wucher said.

Lovisek said Fourth of July is the busiest day for city beaches. “It’s busier than any Saturday or Sunday during the summer,” she explained.

While Weirs, like all Laconia city beaches, is open to the general public, Gilford Town Beach, is restricted to town residents and taxpayers. But even there the crowds were extraordinary.

Town Parks Director Herb Greene said the parking lot at the beach filled up early and the lot at the nearby town ice-skating rink was also full.

Gilford Police posted no-parking signs along Scenic Drive and Route 11 near Ellacoya. Bredbury said police did not have to issue any tickets or have any vehicles towed, a change from last year when beachgoers parked along Scenic Drive, clogging the street, and in some cases blocking residents’ driveways.

Today’s and tomorrow’s weather is also expected to lure people back to the beach as what, for some, has been a four-day holiday weekend draws to a close.

Wucher’s advice: “Plan ahead, get out early, and expect some delays.”