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  1. #1
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    Default Swimming Holes and Cliff Jumping along the AT

    I am relatively new to Whiteblaze, but I have gotten a ton of help by reading a lot of these threads and cannot thank you guys enough. I love the hiking community. I will be starting my own NOBO thru hike the first week of May, but before I leave, I was wondering if anyone could fill me in on the best swimming holes along the trail and more specifically, swimming holes with sweet cliffs to jump off (the ones with water below them lol)? Happy Hiking!

  2. #2

    Default Close enough

    Elk Falls, NC, aka Elk River Falls, is a short distance E of the AT and close to Jones Falls, just a very few miles nobo from US 19E. Appalachian State University students made the hour-long drive to Elk Falls for cliff-jumping and freelance partying in the 1970s. There have been a number of deaths at Elk Falls, where one must take 2-3 good running strides in order to gain distance from the cliff. It's something like 50-60' high and the plunge pool is around 100' across to the easy exit on the far side. AO

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    The 2nd or 3rd most cause of spinal cord injury in men 15 - 35 is cliff jumping. Do a good check of the pool, or risk turning up as a quad, even then !!!

  4. #4

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    Between the brain eating amoebas and the number of rattlesnakes I saw in the rivers last year, swimming is not high on my list of things to do on the AT.

  5. #5
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    It would be rare for a hiker to spend time doing an activity off trail. Usually just too busy or tired. I guess i happens.
    Everything is in Walking Distance

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by squeezebox View Post
    The 2nd or 3rd most cause of spinal cord injury in men 15 - 35 is cliff jumping. Do a good check of the pool, or risk turning up as a quad, even then !!!
    Or be over or under that age range

  7. #7
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    In Mass. I often swim in Guilder pond and Benedict pond, Both Right on the trail..

  8. #8
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    There are lots of Swimming Holes along the AT. My favorite is upper goose pond.

  9. #9

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    The fairly frequent ponds along the trail in NJ and NY made those states almost tollerable in 90 degree heat and humidity. The ponds in Maine are just too damn cold - the cold water even killed one guy last year. Straton and little rock pond in Vermont are usually warm enough in August.
    Follow slogoen on Instagram.

  10. #10
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    Pierce Pond in Maine. Little Rock Pond in Vermont. The Potomac River near Harpers Ferry -- popular for tubing. Right along the AT.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by rafe View Post
    Pierce Pond in Maine. Little Rock Pond in Vermont. The Potomac River near Harpers Ferry -- popular for tubing. Right along the AT.
    The number of river rescues & fatalities in the section of the Potomac last year was crazy. Yes there is a lot of tubing, but I'd would not swim there!

  12. #12
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    My favorite in the Whites is Thoreau Falls, just .2 E off the AT (NOBO) about 2.5 miles after Zealand Falls (nice also). You need to walk down the face of the falls, which is really a cascade and easy to walk, to the pool at the bottom. It can't be seen from above making it only frequented by people who know it's there. The pool is about 30 feet by 15 feet and about 7 feet deep. It's surrounded by smooth rocks perfect for sunbathing and you can sit under the cascading water for an awesome hydro message on your head and shoulders at a point of your hike were you really need it! Almost never anyone else there.

  13. #13

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    Their is only two places i have swimmed near the AT, Fontana Lake and Gulf Hagas, Gulf Hagas is a side trip that is diffinatly worth taking.

  14. #14
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    You are all forgetting the Hudson River, which you can jump into directly from the trail.
    "It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss

  15. #15
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    Makes me think of that verse from good night, irene.

    sometimes i live in the city
    sometimes i live in the town
    sometimes i get a great notion
    to jump in the river and drown

    Bear Mtn. bridge was starting point for two of my 100-mile sections. Did not occur to me to dive off it. We'll be heading to the Clearwater festival in June, right on the banks.

    James River bridge, I hear that's a good one for jumping off. I was half-tempted, it was a hot day.

    Trail Days 1990, I watched LW convince a hiker named Indiana Dan (Indy) to dive off a bridge in Damascus.

    There's gazillions of bodies of water along the trail. I don't know if I'd swim in Nuclear Lake though.

  16. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by rafe View Post
    Makes me think of that verse from good night, irene.

    Bear Mtn. bridge was starting point for two of my 100-mile sections. Did not occur to me to dive off it. We'll be heading to the Clearwater festival in June, right on the banks.

    James River bridge, I hear that's a good one for jumping off. I was half-tempted, it was a hot day.

    Trail Days 1990, I watched LW convince a hiker named Indiana Dan (Indy) to dive off a bridge in Damascus.

    There's gazillions of bodies of water along the trail. I don't know if I'd swim in Nuclear Lake though.
    To be honest the AT sucks for anything besides a well groomed trail (mostly, but not always) and the social life. You want a trail that's the bomb, go do the PCT. A ton of crystal clear lakes to jump into, off high rocks. Pretty much do it every day-all day. As far as the AT; go jump off the Bear Mt. Bridge and they will be collecting your body parts off the Hudson, Jump off the James and they will be collecting your body parts from the bottom of the spill way that is a few hundred yards down stream, Jump into anything around Damascus and they will be collecting your broken body off the rocks down below, AND I agree-don't go swimming in nuclear lake either.
    * Warning: I bite AND I do not play well with others! -hellkat-

  17. #17
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    James River Bridge (where the AT crosses) isn't much more than 20 feet above the water surface, I just had no idea how deep it was. It is done, see photo below from some hiking journal.

    I do think there are scads of swimming opportunities on the AT, it's just a question of whether one is willing to deal with the cold water and occasionally questionable water quality. How many rivers and streams does the AT cross or follow? How many lakes, ponds, marshes and waterfalls does it skirt? Thousands.

    I understand the PCT has better views. But credit where credit is due: the AT has no shortage of swimming opportunities.


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  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by magic_game03 View Post
    To be honest the AT sucks for anything besides a well groomed trail (mostly, but not always) and the social life. You want a trail that's the bomb, go do the PCT. A ton of crystal clear lakes to jump into, off high rocks. Pretty much do it every day-all day. As far as the AT; go jump off the Bear Mt. Bridge and they will be collecting your body parts off the Hudson, Jump off the James and they will be collecting your body parts from the bottom of the spill way that is a few hundred yards down stream, Jump into anything around Damascus and they will be collecting your broken body off the rocks down below, AND I agree-don't go swimming in nuclear lake either.
    The fact that Bear mountain bridge has a telephone at each end that is a direct line to a suicide prevention hotline made it fairly clear to me that it wasn't safe to jump off of it.
    Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

  19. #19
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    If someone can find the stats, I'm sure that drowning (including waterfalls) is the number one cause of accidental death on the AT.
    The trouble I have with campfires are the folks that carry a bottle in one hand and a Bible in the other.
    You never know which one is talking.

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by WingedMonkey View Post
    If someone can find the stats, I'm sure that drowning (including waterfalls) is the number one cause of accidental death on the AT.
    By coincidence I was recently wondering if these sort of stats existed. I would guess that heart attacks are by far the biggest killer on the A.T. with either accidental falls or drowning being the second biggest.
    Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

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