The Porcupine Freedom Festival? 🦔🇺🇸 - Lancaster, New Hampshire.

Today’s location is “the friendly town in the friendly state.” Get a preview ⬇️

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Lancaster, New Hampshire, is just a small village-town, and may be one of the smallest towns that we have featured, but that’s what makes it unique.

Walking in downtown Lancaster, you’ll notice that, despite its small size, there are plenty of locally-owned restaurants, antique shops, and more for you to explore.

The folks who call Lancaster home are proud to be part of such a tightly-knit community. The town’s motto is “the friendly town in the friendly state,” so we know you’ll have an easy time getting along with the locals whether you are visiting or if you’re considering moving to Lancaster.

But if you’re only visiting, one place we think you’ll like while you’re downtown is Copper Pig Brewery. The “brewpub” is more than a brewery. Copper Pig has a full menu on top of their house-made craft beers and ciders. In the summer, this is a great place to stop for outdoor (dog-friendly) dining + drinking, all right on the accompanying Israel River that is right out back.

We certainly cannot skip over the stunning region that Lancaster is within. Lancaster is commonly considered “the gateway to the Great North Woods Region.” This beautiful woods is a great place for backcountry hiking and camping.

If you’re not up for such a long expedition, Weeks State Park is just up the hill from Lancaster. On the summit of Mount Prospect, Weeks State Park has a beautiful view of the vast woods of New Hampshire. The park was the site of the estate of John Wingate Weeks, who is most known for the Weeks Act that enabled the creation of national forests in the eastern United States. Today, there is a museum in the park where you can learn about John Weeks’ large contribution to nature conservation and bask in the nature he helped preserve.

The most unique thing about Lancaster must be the Porcupine Freedom Festival, or Porcfest as they call it. Sorry… it has nothing to do with porcupines, but the porcupine is the mascot of the Free State believers that gather at Rogers Campground to discuss libertarian politics… and enjoy campfires, movies, live talk shows, dancing, singing, music, food, and parties. The festival hosts about 1,500 campers in the Lancaster area for a very unique week. Part of their discussion is about encouraging more libertarians to move to New Hampshire so they can influence the state government and politics, a goal that began in 2001.

If that’s not quite your thing, Rogers Campground is open before and after Porcfest, and you can enjoy the White Mountains with a little more privacy.

See you in Lancaster!