Travel America: Secret Swimming Hole of the Black Hills

I'm a road tripper! I get behind the wheel and drive in no particular direction. Every now and then, you'll find a little spot of the world that is a secret, and deserves to remain that way.

On this hot, sunny summer day, driving out of the Black Hills of South Dakota after another amazing adventure through the sacred hills that offer so much American History. The Black Hills is so spiritual, and a healthy getaway from the daily routine. A must for the dedicated traveler.

It was hot! We had been out of the hills for about a half hour and we wanted to stretch our legs for a moment. Ahead was a small brown sign that drew enough interest for us to stop.

Now, I can't tell you where we were, because this was one of those places that deserves its privacy, and although I want to tell the world about it, I will protect its location from the curious that don't really respect this type of place. Besides, even if you knew where it was, you'd never find yourself going that way anyways... Right?

We got out of our rental car, blocked our hands to the sun and read the sign with the arrow on it... "------- Springs" 150 feet ahead.

Hmmm...

"Let's Go check it out..."

You wouldn't believe, but you're gonna now, because I got the pictures!

As we cam down the stony walkway, we dropped into a small creek bed that offered a scene out of a movie. This was the tropics in the middle of the country.

What a surprise!  A gentle moving creek flowed over a slippery rock bed into a pool of crystal clear water.  The source was near, just miles up into the hills from fresh runoff of last season's snowfall.  It seemed only natural to head back to the car and suit up!

Now, I'm not a cold water guy, so when my friend told me to jump in without a water test, I was weary.  I hate cold water - Oh, I said that already. 

But here I was, in the glorious and unexpected destination and I was going to get a full experience.  I ripped my shirt off and jumped right in.... Aaahhh!  The water was perfect!  I would give a guesstimation of Eighty degree water temperature.

Just what I needed on a hot country day.

As nice as it was to dive in and submerge ourselves in the natural waters, simply lying down in the elegant waterfall was enough to pass the time. It was like bath water flowing over us. How cool was this?

We swam around and jumped in and out for about an hour. Other visitors wading in the shallow areas of the creek. The teal waters seemed out of place for this part of the country, but so necessary for what we needed.

We grabbed our camera and posed for a few photos for our memory book. Pictures were going to be the only way to explain this secret getaway.

After we felt we had enough, we dried ourselves off and headed back on down the road, already wishing we were back. In fact writing this Hub has got me planning an early Summer's visit...

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