Discover a Charlottesville Swimming Hole

View fullsize

Blue Hole swimming hole at Sugar Hollow, outside of Charlottesville

"Swimming hole."

Did you feel that zing at those words? That promise of sunshine and frayed jean shorts and hidden trails through the woods? 

Okay, maybe not everyone gets as excited at labyrinthian adventures through the trees as I do, but when I stumbled upon info about the Blue Hole swimming hole at Sugar Hollow while researching a recent trip to Charlottesville, I got jazzed! We were going to celebrate the Big Kid's birthday, a kid who loves rock climbing and bug watching and forest exploring, and I couldn't imagine any way better to do it than by hiking to this pool in the woods.

The Drive

The drive getting there is its own little adventure. You can set your GPS for Sugar Hollow Road, but it won't get you all the way to the parking lot for the swimming hole.

1. Take Barracks Road northwest out of Charlottesville, driving on a two-lane road that rolls and weaves over beautiful horse country past stately black fences and tiny country stores with tons of character. Grab water and snacks for the hike at one of these charming stores.
2. Barracks Road turns into Garth Road.
3. Then here's the tricky part: At the Piedmont Store (exactly 11.0 miles from the intersection of 250 and Barracks Road, according to Google Maps), continue straight onto the lesser road of Sugar Hollow Road, and DO NOT take the swinging right turn onto Browns Gap Turnpike. This comes up fast and would be easy to miss. Look for the Piedmont Store, which you should drive past on your right.
4. Now you're good to go. You'll spend awhile time on a gravel road, passing country homes and camp retreats, until you get to the Sugar Hollow Dam and the Charlottesville Reservoir. Continue uphill on the narrow pitted road, past the tranquil reservoir with trout the size of my forearm (I'm not kidding; get out of the car and take a look), until you reach the sizable parking lot.

View fullsize

View of the Charlottesville Reservoir from the Sugar Hollow Dam

The Hike

A swimming hole wouldn't be a swimming hole if there were pointed arrows and easy pathways to get to it. Apparently there is a well-maintained trail to a larger swimming hole known as Snake Hole. But that's not where we adventurers are heading.

View fullsize

1. Stand in the middle of the lot with your back to the dam and reservoir behind you. Bramble and a small creek will be on your left. 
2. Cross through that bramble. You will see small pathways through it. Cross the creek. On the day we were there, the water was low enough that we could skip over on the rocks. 
3. Clamber up the embankment on the other side. At one spot of the embankment, there are stair-like rocks to make the clamber a little easier. 
4. An obvious pathway leading up the hill is on the other side. We had to climb over a downed tree to get to it on the day we were there. If you don't see the path at the top of the embankment, walk to the left for a bit. You'll run into it. 
5. Fortunately, once you're on the path, it's a straight 1.5-mile hike to Blue Hole. There's some uphill and stream crossing, but no turnoffs that could lead you to hiking around in circles.
6. You have to climb down from the path to reach Blue Hole, but there are several obvious paths down to it and the sounds of the small falls are unmistakable. You won't miss it.

View fullsize

The Swimming Hole

That bracing water coming down from the Blue Ridge Mountains and roaring into Blue Hole is cold and clear, even near the end of July. Bring towels! And a friendly spirit. Looking for our own private adventure, we were disappointed when we climbed down to the swimming hole to see other people there. But soon, we were all joined in the renegade, swimming-hole spirit. There are a couple of large boulders perched on the side of Blue Hole that provide a 12-foot leap into the pool, and strangers shouted encouragement to reluctant leapers and cheered the ones courageous enough to go. (Note from a Mom: That pool is less than 10-feet deep. DO NOT DIVE!!!) There are pools and smaller falls above Blue Hole perfect for quieter moments away from the crowd. Or to indulge your explorer day dreams.

View fullsize

Strangers quickly become compatriots at the swimming hole

View fullsize

The big jump and the finish

Thank you to Adventures in Parenting, Healthy in Cville, and Hiking Upward for helping me figure out how to get to Blue Hole in the first place.

---

In-Between Tip: A great place to fuel up before your hiking-and-swimming adventure is Ace Biscuit & Barbecue in Charlottesville, a tiny, brick hut that serves meat -- pulled pork, spare ribs, fried chicken, brisket -- over biscuits with lots of delicious sauces, fixings and sides to choose from. 

 

Want more fun outdoor ideas?

Summer Mix Tape for In-Betweeners

The summer before my senior year in high school, a disreputable boy with long hair asked if he could put in a cassette tape as we drove God only knows where in my grey Chevy Cavalier. Out of my speakers came The Rolling Stones, who I associated with the music of my parents and therefore didn’t like. But these songs weren’t the mid-80s, feathered and puffy-shirted “Dancing in the Streets” version of Rolling Stones I thought I knew (You’re right, that was Mick’s fault.) These songs were interesting, lyrical, as dirty and soulful as they were heartbreaking and orchestral. I asked him if I could borrow this tape.

View fullsize

That stifling hot summer, driving around the long, flat streets of Tulsa, Okla., flittering away time with my lovely, disreputable friends when I wasn’t working a 40-hour-a-week temp job, became defined by that tape. “Play With Fire,” “Paint It Black,” “Ruby Tuesday,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Wild Horses,” all became the soundtrack for my last childhood summer, the summer before I turned 18. “Hot Rocks” the guy had written on the cassette label, further proving that this was the perfect summer tape. “Wow,” I thought, “He’s put together the best Rolling Stones mix ever.”

"Hot Rocks: 1964-1971" was the actual name of the album, a compilation and The Rolling Stone’s biggest selling album. I didn’t know this until years later. If you can’t laugh at your 18-year-old self, then you’re doing it wrong.

As we squeeze out the last bits of fun of this last month of summer, I figured it would be a good time to put together a Summer Mix Tape for In-Betweeners to help us all remember that time in our lives when we stayed out late, slept in long and never wore sunscreen. Songs don’t hit me as powerfully as they once did, but they can still transport. A great song can make the sun shine a little bit brighter, can make me smile a little wider and can remind me of that kid in that car that heard that mind-blowing album for the first time.

Summer Mix Tape for In-Betweeners

Click cassette below to play

WARNING: There is an inherent lustiness to summer, with all the heat and exposed skin, and an inherent heat to summer songs. Songs with a (*) may not be kid appropriate.

1. The Rolling Stones - Street Fighting Man
2. *Kings of Leon - Four Kicks (Heirs to The Rolling Stones, this entire album, Aha Shake Heartbreak, their second, is a a fantastic summer listen, an ode to young boys hanging out of trucks with their hormones flapping around them.)
3. TLC - No Scrubs (A great Nineties ode to the girls who refused to respond to the boys hanging out of trucks with their hormones hanging around them.)

4. Nikka Costa - Everybody Got Their Something (Favorite line: “There’s a time for every star.”)

5. Liz Phair - Polyester Bride (Song about sitting at a bar jawing with the bartender. What could be more summery than that?)

6. Rufus & Chaka Khan - Tell Me Something Good

7. Jarabe De Palo - Bonito (And what’s the good thing you want to be told? That everything is beautiful, bonito.)

8. Justin Timberlake - Senorita (The next grouping of songs sound like they're performed at some sweaty club or house party.)

9. Beastie Boys - Live at P.J.'s

10. *Pink - God is a DJ (Favorite line: “God wants you to shake your ass.” I believe that.)

11. *Prince - Housequake (This album, Sign of the Times, is Prince’s masterpiece and another one that I have on rotation all summer.)

12. Sly & the Family Stone - Dance to the Music ("Get on up, and dance to the music.")

13. The Goat Rodeo Sessions - Here and Heaven (Haunting, yet rousing song from awesome collaboration of Yo-Yo Ma and some great bluegrass musicians.)

14. Sam Cooke - Summertime (I know, this one just seems too obvious. But, you see, I was introduced to it in the summertime. By this boy. He would do push ups on concrete blocks. Ahh…summertime.)

15. Sam Sparro - Black and Gold

16. Morphine - Super Sex (I don’t know if it was summertime when a cute guy - who's now my husband - gave me this song on a mixtape. But I know it was hot.)

17. Stevie Wonder - I Was Made to Love Her (Stevie personifies summer to me.)

18. Elton John - Amoreena

19. Everclear - Santa Monica

20. Japandroids - Young Hearts Spark Fire ("We used to dream now we worry about dying. I don’t want to worry about dying. I just want to worry about those sunshine girls.”)

21. The Rolling Stones - Mother's Little Helper (I couldn't resist. Let's all sing it together: "What a drag it is getting old.")

What do you like to listen to in the summer? What song or album brings youthful summer memories rushing back? Please tell me about your favorite songs in the comment section below or on my Facebook page.