The best one
Blue Bend Recreation Area
Blue Bend on Anthony Creek. A deep green pool below a CCC stone wall, with a campground and a ridge trail attached.
Full guide to Blue Bend Recreation Area →Swimming Holes
River pools, plunge pools below waterfalls and clear lake coves are used heavily through July and August. Most are on public land but many are on private property or reached across it. WVU DIY Outdoors maintains one of the few organized published inventories.
Swimming holes are an informal but important part of West Virginia life, and the good ones are almost all cold, deep and on someone's land.
River pools, waterfall plunges and quarry-clear lake coves — with very little official documentation of any of it.
Our recommendations
Where we'd send you
With a campground
Audra State Park
Audra State Park on the Middle Fork. Boulder-strewn river swimming with the Alum Cave boardwalk right there.
Full guide to Audra State Park →For clarity
Summersville Lake
The coves at Summersville Lake. Lake rather than river swimming, and the clearest water in the state by a wide margin.
Full guide to Summersville Lake →Practical note
Never jump into water you haven't checked from the bank this season. Levels, depths and submerged debris change every spring, and this is the single most common way people get badly hurt outdoors here.
What to know before you go
- Never jump into water you have not checked from the bank — levels and debris change every season
- Check river levels after rain; clear water can turn dangerous fast
- Many swimming holes are on private land — ask
Regions that do it best
Rail-trails, limestone caves, gentle river paddling
Greenbrier Valley
The Greenbrier Valley sits on Greenbrier limestone, producing karst topography: sinkholes, springs, sinking streams and extensive cave systems, several with more than forty miles of surveyed passage.
Sandstone climbing, big whitewater, a national parkNew River Gorge
The New River has cut a gorge roughly 1,000 feet deep through Nuttall sandstone, protected since 2020 as New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.
Highest terrain, ski areas, wilderness backpackingPotomac Highlands
All terrain in West Virginia above 4,000 feet lies in this region, including Spruce Knob at 4,863 feet.
Every place we cover for swimming holes
River · New River Gorge
Lower New River
The commercial rafting heart of West Virginia: Class III–IV big-volume water through the deepest part of the gorge, with named rapids including Surprise, Upper and Lower Railroad, Double Z, Greyhound and Fayette Station under the bridge.
Class III–IV summerBig volume character
Lake · New River Gorge
Summersville Lake
West Virginia's largest lake and by a wide margin its clearest — 2,700 acres of blue-green water in a sandstone basin, popular for scuba diving, paddleboarding and boating.
2,700 ac surface327 ft max depth
National Forest · Greenbrier Valley
Blue Bend Recreation Area
A CCC-built swimming area on Anthony Creek in the Monongahela National Forest, with a deep green pool below a stone-walled beach, a campground and a loop trail up onto the ridge.
1930s ccc-builtAnthony Creek water
River · Potomac Highlands
Smoke Hole Canyon
A steep, narrow limestone canyon where the South Branch of the Potomac cuts through Cave Mountain — excellent smallmouth fishing, quiet canoe water at the right levels, dispersed camping, caves in the walls and a nineteenth-century chapel at the upper end.
Limestone canyonSmallmouth fishery
National Forest · Potomac Highlands
Stuart Recreation Area
A CCC-built recreation area on the Shavers Fork near Elkins with a campground, picnic shelters and river access — the practical basecamp for the central Monongahela National Forest and the Otter Creek and Cheat Mountain country..
1930s ccc-builtShavers Fork river
State Park · Mountaineer Country
Audra State Park
A compact park on the Middle Fork River built around a boulder-strewn swimming area and the Alum Cave boardwalk, which runs beneath an overhanging rock shelter above the river.
355 ac parkAlum Cave rock shelter
State Park · Mountain Lakes
Holly River State Park
West Virginia's second-largest state park at 8,101 acres, in a narrow valley of hemlock and hardwood with waterfalls, cabins and a rugged trail network.
8,101 ac park2nd largest state park
River · Eastern Panhandle
Cacapon River
One of the finest gentle canoe rivers in the East — clear, shallow, warm and slow, winding through farmland and forest with reliable smallmouth fishing and easy multi-day trips.
Class I–II difficultySmallmouth fishery
National Forest · Eastern Panhandle
Trout Pond Recreation Area
Home to the only natural lake in West Virginia — a small sinkhole pond in the George Washington National Forest section of Hardy County, alongside the larger man-made Rockcliff Lake, a campground and trails into the Lost River State Forest country..
Only natural lake in wvSinkhole origin
State Park · Mountaineer Country
Tomlinson Run State Park
The northernmost park in the system, in Hancock County at the tip of the Northern Panhandle.
1,398 ac park29 ac lake
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Guides and rentals for swimming holes
Reserved for a West Virginia operator serving this activity. Everything above and below it is unpaid editorial.
List your business hereQuestions people ask
Where are the best swimming holes in West Virginia?
Widely recommended spots include the Greenbrier River pools, Summersville Lake coves, Blue Hole on Cranberry River, and Sandstone Falls area pools on the New. WVU DIY Outdoors maintains a swimming hole inventory.
Organizations, agencies and resources · 5
The groups doing the actual work — access, maintenance, licensing and data. Starred entries are worth following continuously.
West Virginia Tourism / Almost Heaven
Government
Statewide outdoor recreation, destinations, trails, parks, rivers and trip planning.
Visit
WVU DIY Outdoors
University
One of the most important WV-specific resources, covering hiking, backpacking, climbing, biking, whitewater, canoeing, caving, swimming holes, skiing and more.
Visit
USGS West Virginia Stream Gauges
Federal
Critical for current river levels and flow information — the single most-checked page by West Virginia paddlers and anglers.
Visit
WVU DIY Outdoors — Swimming Holes
University
One of the few organized inventories of West Virginia swimming holes, with directions and access notes.
Visit
USGS Water Data
Federal
Real-time river conditions — essential for judging whether a swimming hole is safe after rain.
Visit