Swimming Holes of California: Day Trips With a Splash (Paperback)

~ Pancho Doll (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If you have been baffled by the how-to-get-there directions in other (guide) books, this one is downright comprehensive on that subject, reprinting topo maps and GPS coordinates." -- Los Angeles Times, Aug. 10, 1997

On steamy summer days, it s tough not to envy Pancho Doll. For the past eight years he s devoted himself to discovering, chronicling, and just plain enjoying the country s choicest swimming holes. Operating out of his battered 1995 Toyota pickup, the 42-year-old San Diego resident has logged more than 250,000 miles, poured over countless topographic maps, pried information from often tight-lipped locals, taken the plunge into upward to 700 holes-and managed to turn out four critically acclaimed guidebooks in his Day Trips with a Splash series. (In case you re wondering, Doll describes a swimming hole as moving water on a river or creek six feet deep or deeper. The water is fresh and clean) Pancho is a swimming hole master guru dude,: says actor John C. McGinley (Scrubs) who along with pal John Cusack spent three days last summer cliff diving into some idyllic Southern California spots. He's just got this wonderful combination of expertise, enthusiasm and daffiness. Even today, stumbling upon a fresh beauty is like finding an emerald in a pile of rocks, says Doll And in it s own way, quite precious. It's the feeling or immersion where you wash away the dust and anxiety of the work week, He explains. It s more than a buzz. It s like a baptism. --People magazine August 22, 2005

Pancho Doll (is) America's foremost professional swimming hole sleuth. He lives out of his truck, canvassing small towns for the best places to cool off on a hot day and pacing the area until he finds them. He takes notes and pictures, then heads back to San Diego -- his base, if it can be said that he has one -- to self-publish his own series of regional swimming hole guides. Anyone who has felt the roots of his or her own lice tug too deeply can admire his independence. --National Geographic Adventure July 2003

Product Description

A backcountry tip sheet on where to jump into more than 100 secluded waterfalls, remote two-person tubs, hidden pools throughout the Golden State. All of them are at least six feet deep. All are in creeks and rivers less than three hours from the trailhead. Each entry lists expectation of privacy along with a photo and topographic map with GPS waypoints. Icons indicate the best season to visit, the difficulty of approach, and the overall rating, whether fair, good, excellent or classic. Dog owners can tell at a glance if four-legged hikers are appropriate. Families with small children can easily determine if the journey is a good one for the little dippers.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Running Water Press; 1 edition (June 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965768643
• ISBN-13: 978-0965768641
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #196,018 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cool Book, Easy Reading, Difficult Directions, February 25, 2000

By	Trisa Muscat (Citrus Heights, Ca. (near Sacramento)) - See all my reviews

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!

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Needs better directions, August 8, 1999

By	[e-mail] (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

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!"

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A confusing treasure map, June 21, 2007

By	Barry Allan Rice (Davis, California, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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!