Patios that put out a water bowl without being asked. Trails that don't require leashes when nobody's looking. Breweries with a yard. Beaches off-season.
The nearest real brewery to Squam, about fifteen minutes east in Meredith inside a barn frame that dates to the 1850s. The head brewer runs traditional lagers and farmhouse styles alongside the expected West Coast IPA, with a biergarten for the beers that are better outside. Closed Tuesdays, which catches people off guard mid-week; otherwise open to 9 most nights with a full food menu.
The clifftop view everyone means when they say "the Rattlesnake hike" — a two-mile round trip up the Old Bridle Path to a broad ledge at 1,293 feet, looking straight down over Squam's islands. Easy enough for kids, popular enough that the Route 113 lot fills by nine on a summer Saturday. Leashed dogs are fine here; keep going on the ridge trail for East Rattlesnake if the group wants more.
A flat, easy walk out to a wooded peninsula on Squam's south shore, ending at rock ledges people use for swimming and a picnic once they've walked in. Paddlers reach the same point by kayak from the Association's put-in, the better call on a hot afternoon since trailhead parking is limited. No motors allowed in the cove at the point — one of several quiet-water zones the Association enforces.