Planes takeoff from frozen lake as New Hampshire’s Alton Bay Ice Runway opens

Planes were landing and taking off from New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee in Alton on Sunday morning.

The frozen lake turns into one of the busiest airports in the state and is known as the Alton Bay Seaplane Base and Ice Runway. It opened for the season on Saturday and saw 82 landings.

There were five planes that landed Sunday morning as of 9:42 a.m., according to the runway's official Facebook page.

Alaska is the only other state in the country to have an ice runway, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The airport is owned, operated and managed by the State of New Hampshire, Department of Transportation and Bureau of Aeronautics.

The airport opens for four to eight weeks each winter when conditions allow. There were recent years when the ice was not thick enough for the runway, such as in 2023 and 2024, according to The Laconia Daily Sun .

There is a 12-inch ice depth minimum rule, Runway Manager Paul LaRochelle recently told the outlet.

Plow trucks weighing up to 10,000 pounds helped clear nearly 2 feet of snow off the lake after the recent snowstorm, LaRochelle told the outlet. Planes landing on the ice generally weigh no more than 3,000 pounds, LaRochelle said.

Aircraft from Rhode Island and even Pennsylvania began landing on the frozen lake, according to the runway's social media.

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