Lake Francis State Park

Pittsburg is the largest township by area in New Hampshire and the northernmost, a single town bigger than some cities' entire metro areas, almost all of it forest and water. Lake Francis is one link in a chain that runs up toward the Connecticut Lakes and the headwaters of the Connecticut River, which rises near the Canadian line and flows the length of New England.

Lake Francis itself is a reservoir, formed by a dam on the Connecticut River, which is why its shoreline and levels can shift with the season and the year. That north-country setting, remote, forested, and cold-watered, shapes everything about the place, from the fish that thrive here to the wildlife that moves through the woods.

The cold, clean water makes this some of the best fishing country in the state. Anglers come for landlocked salmon, lake trout, brook trout, and rainbow trout, both on the lake and on the nearby stretches of the Connecticut River, which is renowned for its trout water below the dams.

Beyond fishing, the lake is quiet water for paddling and small boats, and the lakeside campsites let you step from your tent straight to the shore. The scale of the place, big lake, big forest, big sky, is a large part of why people return.

This is one of the most reliable regions in New Hampshire for seeing moose, which browse the bogs and roadside wetlands and are most active at dawn and dusk. The same wildness supports black bear, loon, and a rich north-woods bird community, and the loon's call across the water at night is a signature sound of the place.

Because Pittsburg is so far from any city and so lightly developed, the darkness here is real. On a clear, moonless night the Milky Way arcs overhead and the stars come down to the treeline, making the lake a favorite for stargazers and, on the right nights, for glimpses of the northern lights.

Summer is the main camping and fishing season, though nights stay cool this far north and the black flies of early summer eventually give way to gentler weeks.

Fall comes early and burns bright, with the north woods often turning before the rest of the state, and cool, clear nights ideal for stargazing.

Winter is long, snowy, and serious here, a country of snowmobiles, ice fishing, and deep quiet, with the state's biggest snowfalls.

Spring is mud season and high water as the snowpack melts, waking up the rivers and the fishing.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.