The 19 Best Swimming Holes in Maine

Roque Bluffs State Park gives you a rare two for one, a half mile crescent of sand and pebbles on Englishman Bay and, directly behind it, 60 acre Simpson Pond, a shallow freshwater pond that works as the park's warm water swimming hole. The official park guide welcomes swimming in both, and most families end up in the pond, since it runs noticeably warmer than the bracing saltwater a few steps away.

The pond sits right beside the parking and picnic area, with a children's play area between the two waters, so this is about as easy as Downeast Maine swimming gets. There is no lifeguard at either the pond or the beach, so keep eyes on the kids yourself.

Crystal Lake Park sits right in the village of Harrison at 20 Front Street, a town-run park on 446-acre Crystal Lake. What sets this swimming hole apart is the paper trail: the town has the swim area sampled regularly for bacteria, and the most recent tests came back far below Maine's recreational limit.

The beach is a dedicated swim area kept separate from the boat launch, with a rentable gazebo on site. For a lake to swim in this close to a town center, it is a well-tended option.

Echo Lake Beach is one of only two official swimming beaches in all of Acadia National Park, and the only freshwater one, which makes it the park's swimming hole of record. The sandy beach sits on the lake's eastern shore below the cliffs of Beech Mountain, on the quieter western side of Mount Desert Island near Southwest Harbor.

The draw for families is a shallow sandy shelf that extends well out from shore, and the water runs noticeably warmer than the ocean at Sand Beach. Warmer is relative, though. The Park Service warns the lake can still be shockingly cold even in summer, so ease in. The park tests the water for bacteria weekly from June through August.

Frenchman's Hole is one of Maine's best-known natural swimming holes, built around a roughly 10-foot waterfall on Bull Branch that pours into a deep pothole pool, reported around 20 feet deep in places. The deep pool draws rock jumpers, with a rope to climb back out, while shallower, quieter pools nearby suit kids and casual swimmers. Fair warning: the water stays cold even in the middle of summer.

The stream runs clear and powerful through a forested, rocky gorge in the Mahoosuc Unit Reserve near Sunday River, on state-protected land outside Bethel. July and August bring the warmest water and the biggest crowds; June and September are quieter.

Weston's Beach is a town-owned sandy stretch on the Saco River in Fryeburg, right near the New Hampshire border, and it has been public since the town was granted the land in 1947. The river runs slow and calm along a wide bend here, with an unusually big, mostly sandy beach that visitors describe as gentle and well suited to swimmers of varying ability. It also works as a put-in and rest stop for canoes, kayaks, and tubes floating this stretch.

As river swimming holes go, this one is well tended, with the town monitoring water quality and posting hours of 6 AM to 11 PM. The one thing to respect is Walker's Rips, a set of Class I rapids downstream that get pushier at high water. The trail guide advises weak swimmers and small children to stay out of the river when it is running high, and to wear life vests, so keep kids close to the beach.

Winthrop Town Beach sits at the south end of Maranacook Lake, close to downtown Winthrop, with a sandy beach, a cement pier, and a roped off, lifeguarded swim area. The catch is access: the beach is restricted to Winthrop residents and their accompanied guests.

If you qualify, it is a well run little swimming hole. Boats and jet skis must stay 200 feet off the beach, lifeguards cover posted summer hours, and the water starts cool early in the season and warms as summer goes on. Wind and boat wake can stir up visibility, so calm days are the clear ones.

Little Ossipee Lake Beach sits at Gobeil Park, a town-run park on Route 5 in East Waterboro, and it is one of just two designated public places to swim on Little Ossipee Pond. The lake itself is spring fed, roughly 557 acres and about 3.5 miles long, with a reputation for having been tested and found to be one of the cleanest lakes in Maine.

As a swimming hole it comes with the full town park package, picnic and cookout areas plus a state authorized boat launch on the same shoreline. That launch means motorboat traffic near the swim area, so keep an eye on kids around the dock.

Schoodic Beach is the walk-in swimming hole of Maine's Donnell Pond Public Reserved Lands, and the state calls it the most popular recreation site in the whole unit. It's an extensive sand beach on Donnell Pond, reachable only on foot or by boat, sitting at the base of Schoodic Mountain and Black Mountain in Hancock County.

What you get for the half-mile walk is a pond ringed by largely undeveloped shoreline and tree-covered slopes, protected in part by conservation easements bought specifically to keep the views intact. It shares the pond with one other designated beach, Redmans, but Schoodic is the one people talk about.

Cummings Preserve is a quiet 5-acre conservation area on the Presumpscot River in Gorham, just below the Dundee Dam. The land trust that manages it describes the river access here as a popular local spot for fishing and swimming, which makes it a genuinely low-key swimming hole rather than a destination beach.

The walk in is short and flat, an easy loop that follows an old canal towpath along the river, with a spur down to the water and a footbridge out to a small fishing island. There is no marked swim area or lifeguard, just informal bank access, so treat it like the local river spot it is.

Burnt Meadow Pond beach is a town-maintained public beach on the north shore of a 65-acre pond in Brownfield, sitting in the shadow of Burnt Meadow Mountain. It is a classic small-town Maine swimming hole, and its location near the popular Burnt Meadow Mountain trailheads makes it one of the handiest places to swim after a hike, hikers describe stopping here for a swim and a picnic in the warmer months.

The pond is not uniformly shallow at the shoreline, with a relatively quick drop-off into deeper water in places, so keep newer swimmers close. A new dock went in recently, and the parking lot sits right on the shoreline, so you are in the water within a minute of shutting the car door.

Rich Memorial Beach is Standish's municipal swimming hole on the eastern shore of Sebago Lake, one of Maine's largest lakes and, as the drinking-water supply for the Portland area, a famously deep, clean, low-nutrient one. The beach itself is sandy-bottomed and built for casual family swimming, with the town renting paddleboards on-site and keeping a free beach wheelchair available on request.

The main thing to know is that this is a members-only beach: Standish and Steep Falls residents buy a seasonal household membership, and non-residents can only come as a member's guest. It's a gentle, well-kept place to swim if you qualify, just rinse off afterward, since the town warns swimmer's itch can occur in summer.

Tripp Lake Beach is Poland's town beach on Tripp Pond, a 735 acre lake with about eight miles of mostly wooded shoreline in western Maine's Lakes and Mountains region. You get roughly 250 feet of beach on clear, clean lake water, and non residents can buy in with a cheap day pass.

This is a swim at your own risk swimming hole: no lifeguard and no roped off swim zone, just open lake off a gentle sandy entry. That keeps it relaxed for confident swimmers and workable for families who keep a close watch on the kids.

Newfield Public Beach sits on Rock Haven Lake, also known as Adams Pond, a 210-acre warmwater lake in York County just north of Route 11 in West Newfield. It is the town's official swimming beach, established by ordinance in 2016, and here is the catch: access is restricted to Newfield residents and taxpayers, who need an annual Beach Sticker from the Town Office to get in.

For those who qualify, it is a straightforward lake to swim in, open Memorial Day weekend through Columbus Day weekend, dawn to dusk, with a parking lot right on site. There is no lifeguard, and the town's ordinance is blunt about it, swim at your own risk. No source describes the entry slope or depth near shore, so parents should supervise closely rather than assume a gentle shallow shelf.

Way up in Maine's St. John Valley, Birch Point Beach is the kind of maintained, no-fuss swimming hole a small town does right. The Town of Madawaska runs this 20-acre beach and park on Long Lake, and it has hosted community swim days where kids and teens swim and kayak straight off the sand, which tells you the water here is calm, lake-style swimming rather than anything rough.

It stays a quiet, local spot given how remote Aroostook County is, with a seasonal bathhouse open May through September and town rec fields nearby. There is no confirmed lifeguard, so keep an eye on younger swimmers.

Denmark Town Beach is the official public place to swim in Denmark, Maine, sitting on the shore of Moose Pond off Denmark Road near West Main Street. Moose Pond is a big, multi-town lake shared with Bridgton and Sweden, a real boating destination with designated no-wake zones, so this is a proper lake beach rather than a small pond.

What sets this swimming hole apart is how actively the town looks after it. Denmark tests the water for bacteria and posts the results publicly, including caution notices when water contact is not advised, and those advisories do happen from time to time. The beach runs on a simple summer schedule, dawn to dusk, with ample parking on site.

Brother's Beach is Alfred's town swimming hole, the only direct public access to Shaker Pond, with a proper sand beach, a pavilion, and a picnic area. The pond and beach take their name from the Shaker community that called Alfred home for nearly 150 years, and the Shaker Museum is nearby if you want to make an afternoon of it.

Swimming shares the water with fishing and kayaking in summer, and the pond turns into an ice fishing and skating spot come winter. The park is described as open to Alfred residents, with a gated entrance road on a seasonal schedule.

Here's a quirk of Auburn geography: Lake Auburn is the unfiltered drinking water supply for Auburn and Lewiston, so the main lake is off-limits to swimmers. Municipal Outlet Beach, officially Lake Grove Park these days, is the one exception, a free city park on the lake's outlet stream and the only public place to swim on Lake Auburn.

The city promotes it as the family swimming hole for the area, with a grassy developed park around the water, picnic tables, gazebos, and an accessible playground. In summer, park rangers staff a Recreation Station with games and canoe, kayak, and paddleboat rentals. Just know there are no lifeguards, and the city is explicit that swimming is at your own risk.

Locals call this stretch The Letter S, one of three informal swimming holes along the Sunday River below the ski resort, sitting right on Sunday River Road upstream of the Outward Bound campus. Where Frenchman's Hole has the cliff jumping and Honey Hole has the small waterfalls, this is the calm one, a sandy bottomed river bend long enough to actually swim laps in, with rock areas alongside for sitting and picnicking.

The water runs cold even in midsummer, clear in dry weather but tannic and faster after rain, so time your visit for a settled stretch. There is no lifeguard, and the rocky streambed can be slippery, so watch your footing.

Casco Public Beach, known locally as Pleasant Beach, is the town's sandy beach on the southern end of Pleasant Lake, a spring-fed lake that visitors describe as one of the cleaner, less-developed lakes in Maine's Lakes Region. One review calls the water clean and warmer than the ocean, which is about the best pitch a Maine lake can make.

It's a residents' swimming hole in the literal sense: access is limited to Casco residents, taxpayers, and their guests. There's no lifeguard on duty, and town rules require kids under 16 to be attended by an adult, so it stays a self-supervised, family-paced kind of beach.