Re: Yosemite Swimming/Rock Jumping Spots?

Anyone know of any good spots for swimming or jumping off rocks into water? My group of 2 and I are looking for a cool "unknown" place that we can go and swim and jump off rocks into the water. Thanks guys!

I don't know of any "unknown" swimming holes but people like to swim in the Merced in Wawona by Swinging Bridge. There are several good sized pools you can swim in and several spots that are like water slides. However, the water is too shallow to jump off of rocks into it. Swinging Bridge can be accessed by driving to the end of Forest Drive and then walking about 5-10 minutes on a flat trail to the bridge. The other option is to hike the two miles from the Pioneer Center.

My brother and his kids like a place somewhere around here: http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?ll=37.717776,-119.671669&t=t4&z=16

The book "Off the Wall: Death In Yosemite" has a list of great rocks to jump off of.

Stay on a beach in shollow water. No diving or jumping. We want your whole family to make it home safely.

On your way into the park on Hwy 120, about 2 miles after passing through Buck Meadows (and maybe 15 miles before the Entry Kiosk , you'll come to a turn off with a small sign for Rainbow Pools. It is a great spot to cool off on the way into or out of the park. It is a favorite swimming hole among the locals and will be quite crowded. But it sure is fun.

There are some videos of the spot on youtube. Check it out.

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"It is all very beautiful and magical here - a quality which cannot be described. You have to live it and breath it., let the sun bake it into you" - Ansel Adams



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2013 08:53AM by Jayabrams.

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Jayabrams
On your way into the park on Hwy 120, about 2 miles after passing through Buck Meadows (and maybe 15 miles before the Entry Kiosk , you'll come to a turn off with a small sign for Rainbow Pools. It is a great spot to cool off on the way into or out of the park. It is a favorite swimming hole among the locals and will be quite crowded. But it sure is fun.

The river on the other side of the bridge is never crowded and is quite scenic.

not my video but this is a fun spot
http://vimeo.com/67774021

When went to "Paradise" ... there were diapers on the trail on the way to it.
As in used diapers. Real nice.

O well... it was fun trying to find the place.

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chick-on
When went to "Paradise" ... there were diapers on the trail on the way to it.
As in used diapers. Real nice.

O well... it was fun trying to find the place.

disgusting.

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ryanmj

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chick-on

When went to "Paradise" ... there were diapers on the trail on the way to it.
As in used diapers. Real nice.

O well... it was fun trying to find the place.

disgusting.

Maybe one day, there won't be a need for diapers:

New York Times: Baby's Latest - Going Diaperless


.

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chick-on
When went to "Paradise" ... there were diapers on the trail on the way to it.
As in used diapers. Real nice.

O well... it was fun trying to find the place.

When I worked in Yellowstone, we used to compete with colleagues as to how many [used] diapers we could collect from roadside pullouts. We had a legendary supervisor who encouraged such competition.

I would feel like this.

Tuesday last week I saw someone diving into the "lower" (easternmost) of the Sunrise Lakes, all I could think was that the backcountry would be a really bad place to incur a severe spinal injury...

The noted Rainbow Pool along SR120 is a fine place for jumping, diving into water though on warm weekend days there will be quite a crowd. Good spot for show offs. Highest jumps or 20 feet with several spots 10 to 15 feet. Early summer has a unique slide over the falls though water will be rather cool then. Lots of youtube videos, just search.

In the backcountry for serious cliff jumping, Kibbie Lake has considerable cliffs all around the east and north sides of the lake though because of the bushwhack going around the lake, one would better reach those spots by using a floatation device across the lake. Notice one poor quality youtube Kibbie 55 foot cliff jump.

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http://www.davidsenesac.com

There is a rock in the middle of mirror lake that is 4 or 5 feet above the water, however I am unsure how deep the water is at this time. Early in the season, the depth is sufficient to jump into, but I would not dive....

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Coolburn
There is a rock in the middle of mirror lake that is 4 or 5 feet above the water, however I am unsure how deep the water is at this time. Early in the season, the depth is sufficient to jump into, but I would not dive....

With this year's low water level, I would not even jump into anything with out knowing for sure how deep it is.

You didn't give us any ideas as to your cold water tolerance...for example, are you OK swimming at Santa Cruz in July? Some of us figure almost any mountain lake in Yosemite is a great swimming spot, if you want to drive to the lake in question I suggest Tenaya, otherwise there's really lots of choices, just look for a decent patch of blue below 10000'. Others of us sometimes get needled by members of the first group.

There's tons of great places in wawona to swim at. I know of one spot that has a large bolder that lots of people jump off of into the river but you have to go during the right time of year. The water this time of year is way to shallow for jumping.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2013 09:14PM by marmot.

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marmot
The water this time of year is way to shallow for jumping.

What water?

true, all we have now is just smoke drifting around from the aspen fire. on my way to work the other day you couldn't even see half dome from the tunnel view (was about 5:30am)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2013 09:33AM by marmot.