This past weekend while hiking in Little River Canyon in Northeast Alabama with friends, we came across the perfect swimming hole. Crystal clear cold water cascading over cataracts into a deep calm pool with a 20 foot high easy to climb up cliff to jump from. That first jump took some courage, but after that, I couldn't get enough. And we had it all to ourselves for several hours. Only negative is the hike to reach it. But then again, that may not be such a negative.

In your travels, have you ever found that perfect swimming hole? Or are you lucky to have one close by that you can take advantage of all the time? Are you willing to reveal it's location or do you want to keep it all to yourself?

I used to enjoy Hamilton Pool in Austin, Texas. It was much like what you describe, Ke1th.

http://www.austincityguide.com/conte...ool-austin.asp

Esau's Pond off SR 160 in Southern Ohio, complete w/tire rope swing & beverages of your choice.

One where I grew up in Southern Louisiana will always be in my memory--on a lovely creek with sandy banks, deep clear and clean water, and only a few other rednecks who knew where to find it.

Big Fish- Marcellus,MI.

I love my 600 acre swimming hole. It doesn't have a waterfall, but it has natural wetlands, swans, egrets, heron, and constantly changing beauty. I share my swim with blue gills, bass, perch and turtles among other creatures.

Water is warm now, but you'll need waders to fish or take the pier out by the end of October.

There is a great swimming hole on the flanks of Mount Evans in Colorado. You actually aren't allowed to swin in it - but everyone does.

One of my favorites was a spillway area in the Ozarks in Arkansas. My kids talk about it to this day. It had rapids running down rocks - waterfalls into deep pools.

The Blue Hole - Santa Rosa, NM. The scuba diving capital of the Southwest.

From the tourism board "The Blue Hole is an 81 foot deep natural artesian spring. This beautiful bell shaped pool delivers up to 3,000 gallons of water per minute and remains a constant 64 degree temperature, permitting diving all year round."

One that is not a secret but really is awesome is Slide Rock Nat. Park near Sedona/ Oak Creek Canyon AZ.

That's the one I would love to walk, swim down with my grandkids on a nice toasty day. You have to watch your step though and stay on your toes.

We have found several fun swimming holes. We are hikers too. Most of those were great little unnamed places.

Two that are well known though and come to mind are the Blue Pool on Maui's Road to Hana and Robert Treman State Park in the Finger Lakes,N.Y.

We drove the Road to Hana several years ago and found the Blue Pool from our Driving and Discovering Maui book by Richard Sullivan. We parked our car at the end of a dirt road and walked across rocks to the beautiful Blue Angel Falls. The falls were falling over a huge cliff and into the pool, which was right on a boulder beach facing the ocean. The cliff walls were covered with impatiens and ferns. We had the whole pool to ourselves.

We had stopped at a couple other swimming holes on the drive (Twin Falls and Blue Sapphire Pools) Our kids went in but the water was freezing. The water in the Blue Pool was warmed by the sun and felt great.

Our kids were little when we found the swimming hole at Robert Treman in the Finger Lakes. There was a waterfall that had footholds and all the kids and dads tried to walk across the face of the falls without falling into the pool.
There was also a diving board---the water was freezing here too. Everyone had a great time though.

cashiers NC has a number of these. One that is less of a perfect swimming hole but quite spectacular is Bust-Your-Butt Falls. When I've been all the falls have been secluded and not overgrown with tourists (like me!).

Like LindainOhio, we are hikers and usually find spots that are not well known. Those alpine lakes can be mightly cold, but so refreshing!

One swimming hole that we used to go to when I was a child was Scout Lake in Oregon. We car camped with my cousins family at Suttle Lake, but would go over to Scout Lake for the great rope swing that was there.

Our kids love to go swim at Oxbow Park, east of Portland in Oregon. There are a few spots that are mild swimming holes, but you do have to be careful. We have spent many 4th of July afternoons there.

Over the weekend there was a news story about a couple of kids who are fighting for their life after picking up some bad bacteria at a swimming/fishing hole.

If I remember right, they suggested a larger place and one that has a good flow of water.

I saw someone go down bust-your-butt falls. As a child, the family went to sliding rock. That was fun.

In addition to the swimming hole I discovered in Little River Canyon this past weekend, I have also enjoyed the following other perfect swimming holes: The azure pool beneath Havasu Falls near Supai in the Grand Canyon (and talk about a rough hike to get to), Oak Creek Canyon's popular Slick Rock near Sedona, Big Springs in the Ozarks of southern Missouri and somewhere along the Chattahoochee between the I285 bridge and I75 bridge.

" or do you want to keep it all to yourself?"

Well, count me as part of the "keep it a secret" group. Too many times a great place has been spoiled as more and more visitors appeared.

It's in the Adirondacks. And that's all I'll say about that.

The granite quarries of Rocklin, Loomis and Penryn in Nor Calif.
High cliffs, underwater caves and tunnels.
Picture "Breaking Away" with Dennis Quaid, Dan Stern etc.

I jumped off of so many high cliffs and over hanging pine trees that when I cross over the Golden Gate Bridge there is a little kid in me saying "Come on...you can make it..."...
(OK Faina....let me have it. )

Big Sur, CA at the Julia Phfieffer (however it is spelled) Campground and also in Big Creek, CA... not sure the name of the road but it is just off the beaten path.

A variety of places (basically anywhere you can get your car off the road)around Chimney Rock & Lake Lure.

"Well, count me as part of the "keep it a secret" group. Too many times a great place has been spoiled as more and more visitors appeared.

It's in the Adirondacks. And that's all I'll say about that."

That's very funny if you're familiar with the Adirondacks...there's a swimming hole about every hundred yards.

>>The Blue Hole - Santa Rosa, NM. The scuba diving capital of the Southwest.<<

That's because it's pretty much the only place to scuba dive in the Southwest!

When I was in high school in the late '70s, I participated in the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC). We helped build a campground one summer by Whiskey Falls in the Sierras. It was a great place to cool off after a hard day's work in the summer heat.

The real challenge, though, was only taken by a few of us - getting up at 6:00 in the morning and running under the falls. Our shrieks usually woke the rest of the group up.

Lee Ann

HA! moneygirl : in July, we stayed at the campsite adjacent to the swimming hole in the river in Pfeiffer campgrounds. Very nice. You can put your folding chair in the river 50 feet away and keep an eye on the kids w/o getting splashed. Important when playing chess in the middle of the river, y'know.