A New York summer hike without a swim at the end is a missed opportunity. The state is unreasonably rich in places where a trail delivers you to cold water: spring-fed holes in the Catskills, glacial lakes in the Shawangunks. The Finger Lakes add lifeguarded gorge pools, and the Hudson contributes a genuine sand beach. I keep a mental shortlist for the first 90-degree week of the year, and this is it.
One thing up front: the era of showing up unannounced is over at the famous spots. The Blue Hole needs a summer reservation and Minnewaska caps parking. Rangers enforce the no-swim zones that exist. Every entry below notes what’s actually required.
What Is the Best Swimming Hole Hike in New York?
Peekamoose Blue Hole is the best swimming hole in New York, and it isn’t particularly close. A spring-fed pool on Rondout Creek in the Sundown Wild Forest, deep enough to submerge fully and clear enough to see your feet on the bottom, with water so cold that most people last about ten minutes on their first dunk. The walk from the road is barely half a mile, which is exactly why the state had to step in.
From mid-May through mid-September you need a day-use permit, reserved online in advance, and rangers do check them at the parking area. Weekend permits go fast in July and August; midweek is much easier. No alcohol or fires, and leave the speaker at home. The permit system gets grumbled about, but it rescued the place — hikers who remember the pre-permit trash years call the current version a miracle. If you want a real hike first, Table and Peekamoose Mountains rise from the same valley: 9.4 hard miles, then the coldest reward in the Catskills.
Stats: 0.5 miles | Easy walk | Permit required May–September | ~2 hr 15 min from NYC
Where Else Can You Swim in the Catskills?
The Catskills hide swimmable water beyond the Blue Hole, and two of the best options bracket the range’s most famous escarpment. Both pair a real hike with the swim, which is the correct order of operations.
Kaaterskill Creek below Kaaterskill Falls holds a chain of pools carved into the bedrock as the creek drops toward Palenville. Swimming at the falls themselves is prohibited, and the ledges there have killed people. Take that seriously. The lower creek pools along Route 23A are where locals actually cool off after hiking the falls trail. Water shoes help; the rock is slick everywhere.
North-South Lake is the family option: a designated swimming beach with summer lifeguards inside the Catskills’ biggest campground, plus the North Point escarpment hike right from the same shoreline. Do the 5.9-mile loop in the morning and swim in the afternoon: the full Catskills day for the price of the day-use fee. The gate line on summer Saturdays is real — before 10am or after 3pm.
Which Hudson Valley Swimming Holes Are Worth the Trip?
The Hudson Valley’s best swims are Little Stony Point’s river beach near Cold Spring and the two lakes at Minnewaska State Park. All three sit under 90 minutes from the George Washington Bridge, which makes them the shortest drives on this list.
Little Stony Point is a sand beach on the Hudson River, one easy mile of trail, directly across Route 9D from the Breakneck Ridge massif. The move regulars make: climb Breakneck in the morning, then walk down to Little Stony Point and get in the river. The Hudson here is tidal with genuine currents and no lifeguards — stay near shore, and skip it entirely after heavy rain. It’s also reachable by Metro-North via Cold Spring, which makes it one of the few swim hikes in the state that needs no car.
Lake Minnewaska has a small designated swimming area open in summer, ringed by white Shawangunk cliffs. The smart way to earn it is the Gertrude’s Nose loop: 7.5 miles of the best cliff-edge walking in the Hudson Valley, ending back at the lake. Deeper in the park, Lake Awosting has a rock-slab beach that takes a 3-mile carriage road walk each way, which filters the crowd down to people who actually wanted to be there. Parking caps out by mid-morning on summer weekends; reservations or an early alarm are the play.
Split Rock on the Coxing Kill at Mohonk Preserve is the third Shawangunks option — a short walk to a natural channel pool under hemlocks. It needs a Mohonk day pass, which keeps it quieter than anything free. Worth knowing about for the weeks when Minnewaska’s lots are full.
Are There Swimming Hole Hikes in the Adirondacks?
The Adirondacks are more a lake-swimming region than a swimming-hole region, but one summit hike ends at water you can actually get into. Crane Mountain carries a pond just below its summit — a genuine mountaintop swim after a steep 1,400-foot climb with ladders. Hikers consistently describe that first jump as the best part of the mountain. Go counterclockwise so that the steep rock face comes as a climb rather than a descent, and give the pond’s resident loons their space.
Beyond Crane, nearly every Adirondack trailhead lake has an informal swim spot; the fire tower hikes around Bald Mountain and the St. Regis canoe country are full of them. Treat any pond above 3,000 feet as cold in every month with an R in it.
What About the Finger Lakes Gorges?
The Finger Lakes region runs the only lifeguarded natural-pool swimming in New York, which makes it the best answer for families who want the swimming hole experience without the risk calculus. These are upstate-weekend distance from the city, not day trips.
Robert H. Treman State Park near Ithaca is the flagship: a stone-rimmed pool at the base of Enfield Falls, lifeguarded in summer, fed by the same creek that carves the Lucifer Falls gorge above it. Hike the rim-and-gorge loop past a dozen waterfalls, then swim under the last one. Buttermilk Falls State Park, ten minutes away, runs the same formula under its namesake cascade.
Stony Brook State Park south of Dansville is the sleeper — a gorge trail through three waterfalls with stream-fed swimming areas at the bottom, lifeguarded in season and far less Instagrammed than the Ithaca parks. If the Catskills permits are gone and the forecast says 95, this is where I’d point a carload of people.
How Do the Best New York Swimming Hole Hikes Compare?
| Swim | Region | Hike | Water | What’s Required |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peekamoose Blue Hole | Catskills | 0.5 mi | Spring-fed creek pool | Summer permit, reserved ahead |
| Kaaterskill Creek pools | Catskills | 1.4 mi (falls trail) | Bedrock creek pools | No swimming at the falls proper |
| North-South Lake | Catskills | 5.9 mi loop optional | Lake beach, lifeguards | Day-use fee |
| Little Stony Point | Hudson Valley | 1.0 mi | Hudson River sand beach | Nothing — free, Metro-North accessible |
| Lake Minnewaska (via Gertrude’s Nose) | Shawangunks | 7.5 mi loop | Cliff-ringed lake, swim area | Parking fee; lots cap early |
| Lake Awosting | Shawangunks | 6 mi round trip | Remote rock-slab beach | Same Minnewaska entry |
| Split Rock (Coxing Kill) | Shawangunks | 0.5 mi | Creek channel pool | Mohonk day pass |
| Crane Mountain pond | Adirondacks | 6.0 mi loop | Summit pond | Steep climb with ladders first |
| Robert H. Treman SP | Finger Lakes | 4.5 mi gorge loop | Lifeguarded pool under falls | Park entry fee |
| Stony Brook SP | Finger Lakes | 2–3 mi gorge trail | Lifeguarded stream areas | Park entry fee |
What Should I Know Before Swimming?
Reserve before you drive. The Blue Hole permit sells out summer weekends, and Minnewaska’s lots close when full. Five minutes of checking beats a three-hour round trip to a closed gate.
The water is colder than you think. Spring-fed pools in the Catskills hold in the 50s and 60s even in August. That’s the appeal, but ease in — cold-water shock is real, and it’s the mechanism behind most swimming hole drownings.
Respect the no-swim zones. The pools directly at Kaaterskill Falls and the top ledges of every waterfall on this list are off-limits for reasons written in rescue reports. The legal pools are always downstream and always better anyway.
Water shoes earn their space in the pack. Every rock in every creek in New York is slicker than it looks. This is the one piece of gear that changes the whole day; our day hike checklist covers the rest.
Check flow after storms. A creek that was a swimming hole on Friday can be a hydraulic on Sunday. High, brown, or fast water means it’s a hiking day, not a swimming day.
For swims beyond state lines, our roundup of the best swimming hole hikes on the East Coast covers everything from Virginia’s Devil’s Bathtub to the Asheville waterfall circuit. And if you’re building a full city-escape weekend, start with the best hikes near NYC.