The 22 Best Swimming Holes in Oregon

Regatta Park is Lincoln City's town-run swimming hole on the northeast shore of Devils Lake, a 680-acre freshwater lake just inland from the Oregon coast. The designated swim beach is calm, shallow, and curb-lined, sitting right next to the boat ramp and fishing dock, and it shares the shoreline with a large playground, which makes it a natural swim-and-play stop for families.

It's a straightforward, easygoing place to swim rather than a wild one, and kayakers and paddleboarders launch from the same stretch of shore. One real caveat: Devils Lake has a documented history of cyanobacteria blooms, with advisories as recent as 2024 and 2025, so check current water-quality notices before you get in, especially in late summer.

Hood River Waterfront Park packs a family swimming hole into six acres of Columbia River shoreline in downtown Hood River, right in the heart of the Gorge. The swimming happens in a dedicated, roped-off, man-made sandy cove cut into the riverbank, protected from the open water where windsurfers and kiteboarders do their thing, and the gentle, shallow entry suits young kids.

There is no lifeguard, so it is swim at your own risk, and the currents outside the cove, especially at the Sandbar and the Hood River confluence, are strong and unpredictable, so stay inside the ropes. Columbia Riverkeeper tests the swim beach weekly for E. coli from May through late September, which effectively defines the swim season.

Cline Falls State Scenic Viewpoint packs a surprising amount of river into 9 acres. This stretch of the Deschutes just west of Redmond mixes small rapids with calm pools, so you can pick your spot, deep pools for actual swimming, shallow coves for wading, and swifter water for inner tubing. The water is snowmelt-fed and stays cold year-round, which feels fantastic in high-desert summer heat.

The park itself is the swimming hole here, not the falls. Cline Falls sits about a half mile downstream and has caused multiple drownings, so stay well upstream in the park's pools and coves. Oregon Parks allows swimming here but warns about swift currents and hidden underwater obstructions, and requires life jackets for anyone swimming or floating.

Steelhead Falls is a small waterfall on the Deschutes River near Terrebonne, and the half-mile trail down to it is one of the easier ways to earn a waterfall swimming hole in Central Oregon. The BLM lists swimming right alongside hiking, fishing, and picnicking here, and the setting delivers, a high-desert canyon with colorful striated cliffs above the river's rocky shoreline.

The whole area sits inside the Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead Falls Wilderness Study Area, so it stays undeveloped, no fees, no crowds of infrastructure, just a trailhead with a vault toilet. Come spring for wildflowers on the canyon slopes, and watch where you put your hands, since rattlesnakes can hide around the rocks near the trail and falls.

Poet's Beach is proof you can find a legitimate swimming hole in the middle of a city. It's a small sandy river beach tucked under the Marquam Bridge on the downtown west bank of the Willamette, and in 2022 Portland Parks and Recreation named it one of six official safer swimming areas on the river. The path down is lined with stones engraved with river poetry, including Chinook Jargon translations created with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.

Timing matters here. The water sits in the 50s through May and June, then warms to a much friendlier 68 to 72 degrees from late June through August. The sandy shoreline works for wading and casual swimming, but there's no lifeguard, and the city says you need intermediate to advanced swimming ability because of currents and boat traffic.

Trillium Lake is the postcard shot of Mount Hood, a 63-acre reservoir at 3,600 feet in the Mt. Hood National Forest famous for its mirror-like reflections of the mountain. It is also a genuine mountain swimming hole, with swimming officially listed alongside boating and fishing, and the calm, shallow water near the dam is where kids tend to wade and play.

The lake sits about 40 miles southeast of Portland near Government Camp, ringed by conifer forest, meadows, and a mostly flat 2-mile shoreline loop that works for strollers and bikes. Swim access is immediate from the day-use area, no hiking required, though the access road is gated in winter.

Snively Hot Spring is part hot soak, part riverside swimming hole, set in a remote basalt canyon on the Lower Owyhee River about 31 miles southwest of Ontario. Geothermal water emerging somewhere between 130 and 190 degrees mixes with cold river water in one big rock-lined pool roughly 50 feet across, and one visitor described the temperature swinging from scalding to cold within a few feet, so finding your spot is half the fun.

The pool runs only 2 to 3 feet deep over a gravel and sand bottom, so this is soaking territory rather than lap swimming, though visitors have crossed the river current to reach smaller pools on the far bank. It is free BLM day use, open sunrise to sunset year-round, with late summer through early winter the most reliable window since spring runoff can wash the pool out entirely.

Shotgun Creek Recreation Site is the BLM's answer to a family swim day near Eugene: an official designated swimming area on Shotgun Creek, about 20 miles northeast of Springfield in the Coast Range foothills. The creek offers seasonal water play, and visitors describe it as shallow and ideal for wading, which makes it an easy place to swim with little kids in tow.

The setting is more groomed park than wild swimming hole, and that is the appeal. Mowed lawns, picnic shelters, a playground, and over six miles of forest trails surround the creek, so the swimmers and the non-swimmers in your group both stay happy.

Koberg Beach is one of those spots you would never guess is there from the freeway. A big basalt outcrop screens a sandy Columbia River swimming hole from I-84, so once you make the short walk in from the parking area, the beach feels surprisingly tucked away for a place three miles east of Hood River.

This is casual river swimming and wading rather than an adventure spot, with sand for sunbathing and the Bonneville Pool stretching out in front of you. The site sits where a Koberg family dance hall resort operated from about 1915 into the early 1950s, which is a fun bit of history to have under your beach towel. There are no lifeguards, so keep that in mind.

Locals call Lake Creek Falls the Triangle Lake rock slide, and that tells you exactly why people come. A natural bedrock waterslide, about 40 feet wide and 15 feet tall by BLM's description, drops through a narrow gorge into a plunge pool, and on hot days visitors line up to slide down it. Some jump from the surrounding rocks at heights of 25 to 35 feet, though that adds real risk.

The water runs clear and cool through summer, which is when this swimming hole is at its best, roughly July through early September when levels drop to safer flows. BLM warns that the swift, shallow water right near the falls is genuinely dangerous, so stick to the pool below for swimming and sliding. The small roadside lot fills up on peak days, so go early.

Lake of the Woods is one of the clearest natural lakes in the Southern Oregon Cascades, and the designated beach at Aspen Point Campground is the easiest way to get in it. The water actually warms up here, reaching the low 70s in summer, which is rare for a mountain lake sitting at nearly 5,000 feet. Add a maintained beach right next to the picnic areas and you get relaxed, family-style lake swimming instead of a shivering plunge.

This is the campground's built-in swimming hole, with 1,146 acres of clear, low-nutrient water ringed by fir, pine, and aspen near the Sky Lakes Wilderness. One thing to know before you wade out: the lake is shared with motorboats and water skiers, so it pays to keep your swim close to the beach.

Youngs River Falls drops 54 feet into a swimmable plunge pool about 8 miles south of Astoria, and it has the kind of resume most swimming holes can't touch: a Lewis and Clark hunting party noted it in 1806, and it later showed up in Free Willy 2 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. The swimming happens at a gravel-bank pool downstream of the falls, where visitors consistently describe the water as clear, fresh, and cool, with the deepest section running around 5 to 7 feet.

Summer brings calmer, warmer water, and first-hand accounts describe kids and dogs splashing around with plenty of room. The serious caveat is the falls themselves: the rock ledges are slippery with deceptively sloped drop-offs, and two deaths tied to jumps and falls were recorded in 2014 and 2016. Swim the pool, stay off the cliffs.

Walton Lake is a small spring-fed lake at about 5,200 feet in the Ochoco National Forest, 30 miles east of Prineville, with a designated swimming beach right beside the paved day-use lot. The 19-acre lake sits ringed by old-growth ponderosa pine, aspen, and mountain meadow, and it is often called one of the most scenic spots in the Ochocos.

Be honest with yourself about the temperature: one travel account describes the water as cold enough that many visitors find sustained swimming uncomfortable, better for wading and paddling than long swims. As a high-mountain swimming hole it rewards a quick, bracing dip, and the calm electric-and-paddle-only water is friendly to beginners.

Upper Arm Day Use Area sits on the Breitenbush Arm of Detroit Lake, about a mile north of Detroit, and it might be the most welcoming swimming hole on the whole Detroit Ranger District. The sandy beach was rebuilt in 2007 to be fully ADA accessible, complete with PVC depth markers in the water, so nearly everyone can actually get in and swim. Better yet, the cove is closed to motorized boats, which keeps the water calm and sheltered all season.

Peak swimming runs from roughly July through Labor Day, though hot shoulder-season weekends draw swimmers too. Keep in mind the reservoir drops after Labor Day for the annual flood-control drawdown, which can shrink the swim area late in the year, and Detroit Lake has had cyanobacteria advisories in past summers, so check current conditions before you go.

Perry Swimming Hole is exactly what the name says, a county-owned swimming spot on the Grande Ronde River a couple miles west of La Grande. Residents fought off a 2008 attempt to sell the land as surplus, and Union County made it an official free day-use park in 2009. One local summed up its standing: 'I swam there, my grandkids swam there, my kids swam there.'

The county calls it very popular on hot summer days, and locals describe it as one of the few real swimming holes on this stretch of the Grande Ronde. There's no lifeguard and the site is posted swim at your own risk, so treat it like the unsupervised river spot it is.

Cavitt Creek Falls is a small BLM site east of Roseburg built around one thing: a swimming hole at the base of a six foot waterfall. Campers describe the water as cold but exactly the relief you want on a hot day, and Oregon Discovery gives the spot a full 5 out of 5 for swimming, with a deep, clear pool and only light to moderate current.

This is very much a local family spot. The campground terraces down a forested canyon of fir, maple, and cedar, with a stairway connecting the day-use area to the pool, and it gets crowded on summer weekends when Roseburg area residents show up in force. Some visitors use the rock ledge by the falls for cliff jumping, so expect a bit of a scene on busy days.

Loon Lake is a naturally dammed, 260 acre lake tucked into the Oregon Coast Range about 20 miles from Reedsport, and the BLM runs a full recreation site on its shore. The designated swim area sits on a sandy beach the agency touts as unusually warm for the region, which makes this one of the Coast Range's rare warm-water swimming holes.

Douglas fir and hemlock forest wraps the shoreline, the lake runs two miles long and up to 190 feet deep, and paved paths lead straight from parking to the sand. There's no cell coverage out here, so plan accordingly.

McCredie Hot Springs is a soaking spot, not a classic swimming hole, and that's the whole appeal. Mineral water emerges at scalding temperatures, up to the 125 to 163 degree range, then mixes with cold Salt Creek water in volunteer-built rock-and-mud pools that settle around a comfortable 100 to 105 degrees. The largest pool runs about 30 feet wide but only 2 feet deep, so think shallow lounging rather than actual swimming.

The springs sit right off Highway 58 about 10 miles east of Oakridge, near the site of an old resort that ran from 1916 into the 1960s. Spring through fall is the best window, when Salt Creek runs lower and the crossing to the south-side pools is safer. Never enter the source water directly, it can burn.

Terwilliger, better known as Cougar Hot Springs, is one of Oregon's most famous soaking sites, a series of rock-walled pools stepped down a ravine along Rider Creek in old-growth forest near Blue River. This isn't a cold swimming hole, it's the opposite: clear spring water enters the top pool around 112 degrees and cools to about 85 in the lowest, so you pick your pool by temperature. Most pools run 3 to 12 feet across and just 2 to 3 feet deep.

The Forest Service manages it as an official day-use site with a $12 per person fee for a 2-hour visit and a 50-person capacity cap, so weekday mornings are your friend. Clothing is optional in the pools, and while it's open year-round, the access road gets no winter maintenance, making April through September the reliable window.

Smith River Falls is that rare swimming hole with the land manager's official blessing. The BLM runs this campground and day-use site about 26 miles east of Reedsport, perched just above the falls that give it its name, and lists swimming right alongside camping and fishing on its activity roster.

The water here has a reputation for clarity, credited to spring-fed tributaries and a largely intact upper watershed. One visitor described seeing rainbow-colored fish and smooth river rocks underwater while swimming, which tells you most of what you need to know. There are shallow wading pools above and below the falls, plus a deep pool below a roughly 10 foot rock drop that draws the cliff jumpers.

Applegate Lake works less like a remote swimming hole and more like a full-service lake to swim in. This 988 acre Forest Service reservoir sits in a forested Siskiyou Mountains valley about 20 miles south of Jacksonville, and Hart-Tish Park on its northeast shore is the hub, with several acres of groomed lawn sloping right down to the water.

Swimming happens straight off the lawn and shoreline, and a lake-wide 10 mph boat speed limit keeps the water calm even when the paddlers and anglers are out. There is no sandy beach or lifeguard, so it stays a swim-at-your-own-pace kind of place, with campsites, a general store, and a boat ramp all close at hand.

Rock Creek Beach sits right where Rock Creek meets the Columbia River in Mosier, and the city itself calls it the easiest place to reach for swimming in town. It is a gravel beach inside Rock Creek Park with views up and down the Gorge, plus lawn areas and a covered deck overlooking the water.

Here is the catch: this same stretch is a well-known launch for windsurfing, kiteboarding, and wing foiling, and it is rated for advanced riders. If you are coming to use it as a swimming hole, pick a calmer wind day, which is exactly what the city advises. On big wind days the lot fills with board traffic and the water gets busy.