Adventures of a swimming hole aficionado

Today, Cade and I went to God’s Bath near Sonora, CA. This was one of the top three picks on my swimming hole wishlist for this trip (Lemke’s Lagoon on South Yuba River and Candy Rock being the other two), but we weren’t sure if we would get to go to God's Bath on this trip, as access to the area has been restricted for much of the summer. A youtube video from about six weeks ago showed that the road was closed and the river was too high for swimming. More recent posts to social media indicated that the water had receded, but the legality of accessing the area was still questionable. If the road was still closed, it would mean we would have to walk 3.5 miles past the gate to the bridge over the Clavey River, and then walk another half-mile up the river bank. A recent post on tripadvisor (I think) said that the road was now open. I checked the forest service website this morning, and their list of current road statuses seemed to confirm this. The road being open would be bittersweet. On one hand, an open road would be much more convenient for us given that we were relocating from Grass Valley to Angel’s Camp today (a 2.5 hour drive, plus an additional 1.5 hours from Angel’s Camp to the swimming hole parking area), and we probably wouldn’t have time for an eight-mile roundtrip hike. On the other hand, it also would be convenient for everyone else, which would mean that the crowds would not be deterred. The best-case scenario would be if the road were open, but the crowds hadn’t caught wind of it yet. Luckily, that turned out to be the case (either that, or it was just that today was a Thursday, and school is back in session).

( Click here for the full trip report with pictures and videos. )

In summary, I would say God’s Bath is a pretty good swimming hole. It had good jumping opportunities, a rope swing, cool rock formations, and clear water. The water could have stood to be a little warmer, although it might have been more pleasant earlier in the day before the sun migrated behind the cliffs towering over the swimming hole. I did somewhat prefer the South Yuba River (which has warmer water and comparable scenery) and North Fork American River (for outstanding scenery) to God’s Bath. However, God’s Bath certainly doesn’t suck, and it is well worth the short trek required to access it. I would probably come back if I were ever in the area again, and I would also like to explore further upstream to see what else the Clavey River has to offer.