Oregon's Swimming Holes

Your treasure map to Oregon's finest swimming holes. Adapted from Relan Colley's top rated field guide, Oregon's Swimming Holes brings back the authors insightful and lively picture of swimming in nature for another generation to enjoy.

• Over 200 swimming holes
• Used books sell for over $100 on Amazon
• Only swimming holes rating 6 or better included
• Driving instructions as well as Apple maps
• Browse holes by county, region, waterway or map


THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE OREGON

"This book arises out of my own deep love for swimming the outdoors and my quests for places to swim wherever I have traveled. I can recall several times having been on the road and hot, pulling into a gas station or market and asking where the nearest good swimming hole was. Usually, I was met with a blank look by people who wanted to help but who did not have the foggiest notion where or how to direct me. This is my attempt to help folks find and enjoy one of the best pleasures of life with a minimum waste of time, energy and resources."

- Relan Colley


HOW TO USE THIS APP

Be aware that all data entries are a one-shot snapshot of conditions at any location, representative only, and not a definitive picture of conditions at other specific times. I have selected all data from summertime conditions, generally August.

Each swimming entry includes a tabular listing of descriptive information, a set of driving directions and a map as well as hiking instructions if needed, and a general narrative description. The tabular information listings include the following:

• Rating — a subjective assessment of the swimming hole on a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 is the best and anything below 5 is not included;

• Location — the land ownership unit (national, state, municipal or private) where the swimming hole is located;

• Water quality — a thumbnail water description (fair, good, excellent) based on visual observations and published data, and including transparency, the single most useful gauge of water quality;

• Vital Statistics — includes the approximate maximum width or acreage of the swimming hole, approximate maximum depth, current speed (light, moderate, swift), summer temperature reading, amount of aquatic growth, bottom composition and an estimate of use (light, moderate, heavy);

• Setting — a characterization of the terrain, vegetation, elevation, and amount of litter in the area of the swimming hole;

• Minimum swimming skill (“Swim skill”) — a rough suggestion of the level of swimming skill required to safely enjoy the swimming hole in the following terms: low (okay for kids who can swim a little and for other weak swimmers), moderate (for competent swimmers who may not be fully comfortable with all outdoor swimming hazards), strong (for highly skilled and conditioned swimmers able to cope comfortably with all hazards associated with rapid current, cross current, turbulence, cold, size and the like);

• Amenities — includes the availability of established camping, drinking water and toilets close to the swimming hole;

• Entry fee — indicates whether there is an entry or parking fee or not;