Some of my favorite swimming holes . . .
One of my favorite swimming holes when I was a child was Darts Mill, in Readington Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey. This was along the South Branch of the Raritan River. I have the look of hurry up and take the picture!
I was surprised to hear that my sister-in-law, Cindy, had gone there with her family as a child. How neat to think we all may have played together. It was always fun to not only splash around, but to go under the bridges where the river ran and to catch minnows.
Rockaway Creek, in Tewksbury Township, Hunterdon County was a local swimming hole that some of our neighbors also went to. The creek had been damned up and it had some nice large rocks to play on. I’m the little one on the right with the “water wings” on.
When I was a little older, I would go to Round Valley Reservoir, in Lebanon, NJ. It was formed in the early 1960s after a series of significant droughts, in a natural valley with Cushetunk Mountain. This photo was from before it officially opened. Later I would bring my own children there. Tuesdays were free then, and also after 6 p.m.
Mountain Lake, in Liberty Township, Warren County was another great place for a swim. In this photo below you can see the beach area with the dock we would swim out to. I was the weakest swimmer of my siblings, but I did manage to get out that far.
Swimming holes never have chlorine added to the water, and are usually free, or just have a nominal fee to get in. They are great places during the hot sultry days of summer. Now we swim for free at the lake we live on in Virginia.
What are some of your favorite swimming holes?
Take a look at Cate’s blog at Show My Face for more Six Word Saturday postings.
Copyright 2016 by Maryann Barnes and Genealogy Sisters.
GenealogySisters 
Good memories! We went to Lake of the Woods in Mahomet Illinois every summer when I was a child.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks! Lake of the Woods sounds like a special place!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The (several) swimming holes near where I grew up (in CT) had no names, only descriptions, like ‘down by the old mill’ or ‘in the Hollow’. Great memories, though!
LikeLike
Ron, Thanks! They sound like great swimming holes! Mill ponds and creeks were always good to cool down in.
LikeLike
Sadly, I never had a swimming hole per se. We swam in pools or lakes or at the beach. The closest thing to a swimming hole was the Saw Mill River close to my childhood home where we could walk and look for fish and turtles. But it was more a creek than a river at that point and certainly not deep enough for swimming. Great photos!
LikeLike
Thanks, Amy! Anywhere you can look for turtles and fish sounds like my kind of place. Little by little after the economy improved, post WWII, some neighbors put pools in. One in ground pool was spring fed, and ice cold all summer.
LikeLiked by 1 person
On a day as hot as today (over 90 on Cape Cod—almost never happens), an ice cold swimming hole sounds wonderful!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m not much of a swimmer but I’ve always lived beside the sea, Maryann. Looks like you had fun times. 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks, Jo! How delightful to live by the sea! I had a lovely old fashioned childhood with plenty of play outside time.
LikeLiked by 1 person