Man on the Street by Greg Kristapovich
“Where’s YOUR favorite swimming hole?” (asked in Sonora)
“It’s not real close. It’s on Hwy 120, across from the Rush Creek Motel, down in the canyon on the South Fork of the Tuolumne. There’s a swimming hole down there – larger than a high school swimming pool! It’s nice and deep; nice and cool! There are nice flat rocks to lie out on! It’s beautiful! It’s private. You could go there with your lady friend and…nobody around. It’s past Groveland, almost close to Yosemite. I’ve been going to that swimmin’ hole probably 30 years! It’s the best one I’ve found!” – Jim Brisco, Sonora, (truck driver)
“I love Rainbow Pools (near Groveland). There’s a big cliff you can jump off and a beautiful waterfall! In the old days, there used to be an overhead, two-seater cable car that used to go 30 to 40 yards, back and forth across the canyon. We used to ride it back and forth. I used to hitchhike to Rainbow Pools when I was a young hippy. This was in the late ‘60s. We’d skinny dip. I won’t tell you the other stuff we did, but…a bunch of us would go there and camp out, swim. A great place! Nice parties! But it’s changed. It’s not like it used to be. But it’s the best memory of my life, of a swimmin’ hole!” – Randy Morgan, Sonora, (artistic painter/house painter)
“God’s Bath! It’s definitely a hike in, but it’s worth it! It’s breath taking and the view is wonderful! I go there several times a year. You go down Hwy 108 to Tuolumne Road to Cottonwood Road; go about 15 miles down Cottonwood. You have a hike after that, about two miles. But it’s God’s country! I’ve been going there a long time – since I was nine years old!” – Kimberly Davis, Sonora, (homemaker)
“Dianna Pools in Greeley Hill, by Groveland! We first went to Rainbow Pools, but the locals there knew of this other place that was a little bit more secluded, which was Dianna Pools! It’s kind of out of the way and not a lot of people go there. There’s a pretty cool cliff you can jump off of! It’s at least 50 feet high! I’ve jumped off that cliff and its exciting – a thrill! The area around Dianna Pools is kinda rocky, kinda foresty. I used to live in Greeley Hill, so I would frequent Dianna Pools quite often.” – Blaine Coyle, Sonora, (forest service/helitack captain)
“When I was a kid, we used to go up to Basin Creek, (near Tuolumne City.) It’s a creek with a small dam across it. We would swim there and sometimes take a picnic. I remember the road going back in there to the creek, back then, was not even paved. It was always quite an exciting, long trip and it seemed to take forever to get there. But once we got there, it was so very worth it! Another good swimming hole is Flemming Meadows near Don Pedro. It’s a man-made swimming lagoon!” – Veronica Roberts, Sonora Meadows, (attorney)
