In Oregon's Willamette Valley Adapted from Oregon's Swimming Holes by Relan Colley With deference to the rest of the country, there is no place like Oregon for recreational outdoor swimming.
Swimming holes are abundant and the beauty and variety of the surrounding countryside are unmatched.
To the west there is ocean, to the east, desert. There are high mountain lakes in the Cascades, which stretch from California to Washington. Lovely rivers have created beautiful lowland valleys. With the exception of southeast Oregon, there is likely to be a decent swimming hole within half an hour's drive from any place in the state. The Oregon Supreme Court has recognized the public's right, through the doctrine of custom, to unencumbered recreational access to the coastal shoreline, from the vegetation line to the ocean.