Silver Lake State Park was officially opened in August 1954 after being purchase by the state in response to the establishment of the Division of Recreation within the New Hampshire Forestry Department in 1945. The creation of the small-scale, eighty-acre park served a need for residents in the urban areas of Nashua and Manchester, and other southern New Hampshire communities. Previously operating as a bathing beach and day-outing area, two shoreline dance halls—Wallace Grove and Morrills Grove—were popular summer retreats for locals and soldiers from Fort Devens, who traveled there by train.

Curving along the spring-fed, thirty-four-acre Silver Lake lies the sandy 1,000-foot beach, offering space for swimmers and sunbathers alike. Swimming, picnicking, and boating are popular activities within the park, along with miles of hiking trails into Hollis’s Spaulding Town Forest. Amenities include a bathhouse, picnic tables, and canoe and kayak rentals.

Photo courtesy of NH State Parks