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It's almost summer, and we'll bet you want to go swimming. Lucky you, we found natural spots
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13 beautiful natural swimming holes around the U.S.
It's almost summer, and we'll bet you want to go swimming. Lucky you, we found natural spots--gentle waterfalls, deep swimming holes, lazy rivers--where you can relax with a dip.
1. JOHNSON'S SHUT-INS STATE PARK
Middlebrook, Missouri
An outdoor area that's all about shut-ins? The "shut-ins" in question are the areas where the BlackRiver's flow is blocked by ages-old volcanic stone, resulting in a collection of small pools that makefor thrilling travels as you move from one eddy to the next.
2. CHENA HOT SPRINGS
Chena Hot Springs/Denise Ferree
Fairbanks, Alaska
For more than a century, visitors have been flocking to the springs to bask in the healing powers ofits mineral-rich waters (and gaze at the unobstructed Aurora Borealis views that are visible 200nights per year). If you're in need of a cooling-off period following your dip, take a tour of the on-siteAurora Ice Museum, the world's largest year-round ice museum, which keeps its shape bymaintaining a 20-degree temperature at all times.
3. BLANCHARD SPRINGS CAVERNS
Fifty Six, Arkansas
Often referred to as "living caves" because they tend to change and grow, the Caverns are a three-level cave system in the Ozark National Forest. The caves' average temperature of about 58 degreeswill keep you cool during the hot months. Or you could take a dip: One of the state's best-knownswimming holes just happens to be in the Blanchard Springs Recreation Area.
4. BRIDAL VEIL FALLS
Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites
Tallulah Gorge State Park, Georgia
Second only to the Grand Canyon in depth, Tallulah Gorge houses enough waterfalls--Bridal VeilFalls among them--to have earned it the nickname "Niagara of the South." Even from a shortdistance, it's easy to see where this popular swimming hole gets its name; white waters cascadedown the falls' gently sloping face of rock to resemble the wedding wear in question
5. ST. ANTHONY SANDBAR
St. Anthony, Idaho
For more than six decades, locals and visitors have whiled away summer days at this swimming holethat features a floating dock, diving board, and old-fashioned metal water slide.
6. WHITE ROCK PARK
St. Paul, Indiana
Adventure-seeking water fiends can find plenty of diversions at this three-quarry water hole. When asimple dunk just won't cut it, there's high diving from three platforms (the highest of which is 10meters), scuba diving, rope swinging, and zip lining to keep you busy.
7. BIG HOLLOW RECREATION AREA
Des Moines County Conservation
West Burlington, Iowa
One of the most popular outdoor destinations in the Des Moines area, the Big Hollow RecreationArea boasts four shooting ranges, an astronomy observatory, a 3-D archery course, a model airplanefield, and plenty of water activities. Boating, canoeing, and fishing are all on the menu at the nearly200-acre lake, but a roped-off swimming area sees plenty of action in the summer months, too.
8. CLINTON LAKE
Lawrence, Kansas
With 16 boat ramps, eight docks, regularlystocked fishing ponds, and some of the state'smost crystal-clear waters, there's never a dullmoment at Clinton Lake. For those more keenon simply cooling off, the lake--part of ClintonState Park--offers a sandy beach and swimmingarea, too.
9. PLATTE RIVER
Empire, Michigan
Some might consider it cheat--or counterintuitive--to recommend a swimming anywhere besidesLake Michigan in the midst of the beach-filled Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. But thisshallow river, which cuts through woods and sand dunes before emptying into Lake Michigan, offers
new adventures with each visit. In fact, Platte Point Beach--the point where the river flows into thelake--is one of the highlights of this near-30 mile body of water. The best way to see it all is tomeander for miles, taking quick dips when the mood (or water) strikes you.
10. BOILING RIVER
Gardiner, Montana
An easy hike along the western bank of the Gardiner River--on a 45th-parallel trail that lies halfwaybetween the equator and the North Pole--leads you to Boiling River, one of only two safe (and legal)places to soak in Yellowstone National Park. It's here that the opposing temperatures of theGardiner River and Mammoth Hot Springs mix to create a perfectly stress-reducing temperature.
11. THE BLUE HOLE
Laurence Parent/The City of Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
Santa Rosa, New Mexico owes a large part of its designation as "The Scuba Diving Capital of theSouthwest" to The Blue Hole, an 80-foot-deep natural artesian spring that--at 64 degrees--allows foryear-round diving. Witness the wonder of this bell-shaped swimming hole that measures 80 feet indiameter at the top but extends to 130 feet at the bottom.
12. ROBERT H. TREMAN STATE
Ithaca, New York
This upstate New York park is a place of geological wonders and rugged beauty, with miles uponmiles of hiking trails, a scenic gorge known as Enfield Glen and a dozen natural waterfalls--one ofwhich you can swim up under in the park's designated, stream-fed swimming area.
13. CUMMINS FALLS STATE PARK
Cookeville, Tennessee
It often seems that the very best swimming holes can be difficult to reach. This is one examplerecently named a Tennessee state park (the first inductee in 14 years), this 200-acre outdoorsanctuary has plenty to offer in the way of water activities, most notably the 75-foot namesakewaterfall that cascades into a 100-year old swimming hole.
See more swimming holes at Condé Nast Traveler
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http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2013/06/11/13-beautiful-natural-swimming-holes-around-us/
