An ol' swimming hole??? (Santa Fe, Roswell: camping, live in, pool)
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So where in NM can I find a natural, decent place for a cool dip? Suggestions for swimming holes, lakes and rivers, or whatever, are welcomed. I live in ABQ but I don't mind driving around and "making a whole day" out of it.
As far as lakes go I think the best one for swimming in your area is Abiquiu Lake. The facilities are very nice and the scenery is great. Also, lots of people go and splash around at Soda Dam up in the Jemez Mountains. Its just a small pool but again, the scenery is terrific. There are also Cochiti Lake, Nambe Falls and possibly the Rio Grande up around Pilar on the High Road.
These places are well known so there is plenty of information on the internet about them and all the other popular water recreation areas in the state.
Here are some nice places I've discovered that are more obscure and less crowded:
Up in the Pecos River Canyon in particular there are lots of places. The Panchuela Campground, which is perhaps the nicest Forest Service campground in the canyon, is next to Cave Creek where you can wade around. There are some pretty deep pools along the Rio Mora, accessed from the Mora Campground (Dept. of Game and Fish). And there are very nice pools and scenery at Windy Bridge picnic area (Forest Service) along the Pecos River. The Forest service charges fees but the Dept. of Game and Fish requires a permit.
Up in the Jemez Mountains, in addition to Soda Dam, there are numerous points of access to the Jemez River for swimming and wading. And don't forget the hot springs. Also, you can't miss the Gilman Tunnels where you can swim in the Guadalupe River above a waterfall if you're very careful. The scenery here is very dramatic.
And if you find yourself at Bandalier National Monument you can ask the folks at the visitor center for a brochure on swimming holes and hot springs in the area.
Further up north in an area called the Enchanted Circle there are campgrounds along the Red River with places to swim. On NM38 between Quest and Red River. Check out Fawn Lakes campground in particular, picnic sites with shade along the river.
These are just a sampling, I'll post any more information that I can remember.
SE NM offers the Bottomless Lakes near Roswell (no, they're not bottomless, either in terms of dress code or their depth). Lea Lake in particular conjures up the ol' swimmin' hole image pretty effectively.
Carlsbad's riverfront park is also a favorite, though last time I was there it was unkempt and the bathrooms were locked shut (why have them, guys?)
There is a steep trail down to Fresnal Creek starting from the Tunnel Vista area on the road to Cloudcroft. There are apparently some deep pools down there.
At the beginning of May I went camping at Three Rivers campground (not to be confused with Three River Petroglyph site) and there was enough water in the stream for a nice refreshing bath. Even with zero snow on Sierra Blanca peak and severe drought prevailing the flow was still surprisingly strong.
joqua - cool picture of Bridal Falls. I've heard of it but never seen it. I don't know if a private group could own and restrict visitation to a place like this but I suspect they can. I'd go there today if I was allowed to, I'm just down the road in Alamogordo.
joqua - cool picture of Bridal Falls...I'd go there today if I was allowed to, I'm just down the road in Alamogordo.
I see my post to this thread was moved to create a new thread, but in any event, I should emphasize that I don't know to what extent the owner(s) of Seventh Heaven Ranch are restricting access to Bridal Falls. There is an email contact posted on their web site that you can try to use for asking their permission to visit, and what they require of visitors (entrance fee?). The principal owner, who I have known in the past, is in poor health - or so I was told - but he is a very congenial person, IMO.
Bridal Falls Lane is a public road so it's quite possible to drive to the creek proper, where there is a "wet" crossing point, but the actual falls are on a short dirt branch road. While the actual falls are not shown on Google Maps, there are a number of photos in the "Street View" panel and if you scroll over a photo a directional line will point to the spot at the falls where the photo was taken, thereby allowing the viewer to zoom in on that spot.
I see my post to this thread was moved to create a new thread,
Yes, this original thread title is "An ol' swimming hole???" and "So where in NM can I find a natural, decent place for a cool dip? ". You kind of went off topic and started discussing where you can't going swimming...
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