Customer Reviews

Swimming Holes of California: Day Trips With a Splash

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was so excited when I found a book of this nature. I love waterfalls and swimming holes so I swooped up the book. I knew of some of the places in the book already, such as University Falls. The directions he gives to that place would have someone drowing in the Rubicon before finding University Falls. One day my best friend and I packed up the kids and set out for another destination in the book. We spent most of the morning trying to find the trailhead-and the other part of the day getting lost trying to find the swimming hole. The kids were whinning, hot and tired and we were disappointed if not straight up mad! We found a guy who lived in the area who laughted very hard when he read the directions (straight out of the book). Just about everything was incorrect. Wrong forest road number, wrong forest road, didn't bother to mention several turn offs, and it wouldn't have mattered if we were on the right road because the road indicated didn't really go where Doll stated it did. If you have GPS you're in luck. You're gonna need it. At the end of each chapter Doll lists Why Bother places. Doll doesn't included directions or pictures for those places but I managed to find a few on my own and they were gorgeous!

When I came across this title on the shelf I started jumping up and down and begged money from my friends to buy it. Imagine how much more delighted I was when I really started reading it, and found that the author's mind-set and approach to swimming holes is the same as mine! Concerned with pristine beauty and unadultrated appreciation of water and rock, Doll is very descriptive and no nonsense about the sites themselves. A little less descriptive, however, are the directions to these spots. The very day that I bought the book, we drove to Yosemite and tried to find a couple holes. No luck. The directions were confusing and lacking the most basic measures such as distance and time. Does anyone really USE GPS? For those of us that don't, the topo maps really offer no help, and his verbal directions are very unclear. I was frustrated that the author seemed to be sitting in the trees while we hiked, chuckling to himself, "Ha ha, I know where these holes are, and you don't!"

This book is well written and clearly organized, with a straightforward and helpful system of rating swimming holes. However, as other reviewers have described, the instructions are truly atrocious. I am a scientist used to tracking down rare plants using old coordinates, rumor, misinformation, maps, Google Earth, etc. The skills I have honed come in very handy when I use Pancho Doll's book. For some of these sites, nearly all the information (the maps, the written instructions, the GPS coordinates) are all wrong. Even stranger, they are incorrect but consistent with each other. My guess is that Doll took sloppy notes on his navigation, then a few weeks afterwards he guessed where the sites were on a map, and generated hiking instructions and GPS coordinates using mapping software. Some of the sites have taken me two or three searches to actually find. That being said, I've been ticking the northern California sites off, one by one, and thanks to this book I have seen some of the most spectacular and pretty little places I have ever seen in California. Some of the places are so fabulous, my jaw dropped when I saw them. And I guarantee that unless you go to them because of this book or on a local's recommendation, you'd never find them.

Think of this book as a tattered pirate's map that is incomplete and smeared. You'll probably get lost, but with perseverance you may just reach a chest filled with treasure!

What can you say about a guide which tells you about paradise but gives the wrong co-ordinates ?
Unfortunately, despite its claims I now have to check all sources (locals to google earth) before going to a new pool with this book. I have spent hours on dirt roads, following the directions and finding out it is the wrong way.
As my 10-year-old put it " Maybe he doesn't want people to find these places" !
Another example is repeating the same map for two differant places !!

Ever since I was young, I have been in search of the secret, awesome swimming hole. To plagiarize, it is the stuff dreams are made of. We have visited two of the sites described already. In both cases, Pancho Doll's directions and advice were right on the money. In some cases, I can see how the book needs more directions because it largely uses GPS coordinates, assuming the reader has a Global Position System device. But someone who is good with maps and talking with locals (part of the fun!) should not have a problem. It is wonderful that someone has written such a book with such captivating style and good on-site research. Bravo, Pancho! I also was able to speak with him because he uses a dictation device we manufacture. He was every bit as thoughtful on the phone as in his writings. I can only hope he will continue to update and fine tune his writings. The only concern is that somehow all us readers have to help keep these places well preserved and prevent abuse.

this book is riddled with flaws. the directions are misleading and dangerous. i have gotten lost on many of these excursions due to his poor trail descriptions. one will also be mislead by his money grubbing tactics. once you purchase the book you are lead to believe that you are allowed access to all of the holes in the book, but guess what? no. you have to join the serria club to get full access. lame, everyone knows the serria club is a cruel animal killing fratfest. i doubt this review will even stay up long enough to read because pancho is notorious for deleting these things the second they are written. i write this in the least slanderous way possible, but, he is in this for the money, not the love of swimmin. i recommend chris shaffer's book "the definitive guide to waterfalls of southern and central california" much better descriptions of waterfalls with swimmin holes with SAFE directions to and from.

Following this book's directions, we went to the Marble Slides hole. We planned on going to the Marble Forks one, too, but I don't think we found it. Luckily we still had a lot of fun. The directions are more like vague guidelines, it seems. Also, it is confusingly organized; the maps aren't always next to the holes they belong to, due to several holes being on one map, so to find the map you have to flip around. Also, the full-pages pictures aren't always of the hole on the adjacent page.

My main gripe with this book is the ads for his other books inside this one. I bought a book. Not a bunch of advertisements. If I wanted advertisements, I'd watch television.

Still, a worthy buy.

Just to echo some of the other reviews on here - the book has great finds but the directions themselves are often lacking. For instance on page 168 the directions for "Camp 4" are wrong. The book gives the wrong mileage marker from a reference point to Camp 4 (5.4 miles), when I measured it in two different cars at 3.8. And the map text markers don't alway match reality. On page 168 the map seems to confuse the "Parking" from "Camp 4."
Buy the book and plan ahead - use the net to bolster your directions where you want to go. Be prepared to ask random people for directions to the sites in the book.

Follow up (over 1 year since initial posting of my review) - I checked the author's website and he still has wrong maps/directions. The directions are often horrible! And the typos - for instance on page 151 which is for "Stony Slides" he references "Alder Slabs." I've been to both spots and they are nowhere near each other. I am reducing one star because after one year the author's website maintains wrong directions.

This is an excellent book. A lot of subtle places listed in here, and good advice on where to go depending on what you're looking for. Great place descriptions, maps, and advice. Great purchase.

My family and I love this book. The icons make it easy to see difficulty of hike, whether it's pet friendly and many other areas of interest. We recently used the book on a trip to Bass Lake near Yosemite. The directions were spot on, and we found the most incredible trail, several small waterfalls and swimming holes, the best part being that it wasn't overrun with people and/or trash. I can't wait to use the book again!!