Day Trips with a Splash: Swimming Holes of the Southwest

Very easy to follow book of some great places to go and visit. Grab you GPS and get out and have some fun.

Hey, I'm discovering places I never knew existed. Even during the Arizona drought there are these hidden away spring-fed swimming holes that are absolutely awesome! This book is written excellently, and the icon-based ranking and rating system is really cool. Thank You Pancho!

Nice places to go to in Arizona.Well thought out and written. I enjoy seeking out new places to go and the book has a bunch of neat places to explore.Please remember though that this is Arizona. I mean a nice pool of water described might be just that in Feb or March - but come May or June it might be a flowing river of green! And a nice pool described in the book ya need to take with a grain of salt!! Some places I have enjoyed the discovery of finding it and soon thought jeez this is just the same ol same ol stuff. Make an adventure out of seeking out the places and enjoying the outdoors.

This is a fun book. Water holes and waterfalls are covered from Tucson to Moab. Several are short day hikes suitable for any fit person. Owning a large selection of hiking books I was surprised to find rarely mentioned areas. Pancho Doll really did explore the state to find some rare gems. He is a very likeable guy with a great sense of humor. Topographic maps are included in the book. The book is tied together with a website. You send in your receipt to get a password. Then you can print out the maps so you don't need to carry the whole book. In all honesty though... GPS readings are not real accurate on several spots. You can find the spots without GPS so it doesn't matter. A skinny dipping symbol indicates your chances of finding a secluded spot. After each region is a "why bother" list of area's Doll doesn't recommend. Keep in mind the why bother is referring to swimming holes and waterfalls. I say that because areas I consider awesome are mentioned on his "why bother" list. Ironically some of the spots in the book carry a boom box symbol indicating large or rowdy crowds. Seems those should be put on the "why bother" list! Overall this is a great book. Pancho worked hard on putting it together. With over seventy destinations it's a great value. I give the book a 4 because it's proved valuable over the years. It appears Poncho prints this book himself. The effort is recognized and I'm sure it will only get better in future editions.

This is definitely a book that I wish I had years ago. It has tons of different places to hike to in Arizona and Southern Utah with swimming holes. It can be somewhat challenging to find water in the Southwest, so this book is a great guide. It is filled with lots of descriptions of the places, maps and pictures of each water hole. This is an ultimate book for exploring the southwest.