Cruise above the trees on a Lake Winnipesaukee zip line.   (Photo: Rob Bossi Photography/Courtesy of Gunstock Mountain Resort)

Boat culture rules Lake Winnipesaukee, thanks to its 280 miles of shoreline and thousands of motor-boaters, skiers, tubers, and boarders. But there’s a better way to catch a breeze—and get around. Now in its second season, Gunstock Mountain Adventure Park’s ZipTour ($75; 603-293-4341; gunstock.com) is the longest zip-line canopy tour in the continental U.S., with three existing miles of line. Anyone 10 and up can cruise the leafy 8,000-foot descent from summit to base at user-controlled speeds up to 55 miles per hour; views span the coiffed hedges of Romney’s Wolfeboro at the lake’s eastern shore to the neon-lit Weirs Beach. In Lincoln, near Barron Mountain, the twenty lines at Alpine Adventures (603-745-9911; alpinezipline.com) include an off-road thrill ride to the top (from $36) and a newly expanded aerial obstacle course; smaller courses at Monkey Trunks (603-367-4427; monkeytrunks.com), meanwhile, are better for younger children and beginners. Back on Earth, hike the well-maintained trails of Mount Major (NH-11, Alton; hike-nh.com), or if the water looks too good to pass up, go in for a half- or full-day ten-person pontoon rental from Meredith Marina (from $300; 603-279-7921; meredithmarina.com). Head to the always-packed Camp (300 Daniel Webster Hwy., Meredith; 603-279-3003) for gourmet comfort food like deconstructed s’mores in a faux-rustic setting (pine tables, screen doors, moose heads on the walls), then overnight at the Adirondack-style, 57-room hotel Church Landing at Mill Falls (from $249; millfalls.com), with lake views and an in-house spa notably adept at undoing “zip grip.”

The thrill-o-meter: Nobly electrifying.