Day Trips with a Splash: The Swimming Holes of California » (REV)

Secluded waterfalls, remote two-person tubs, hidden pools, all of them at least six feet deep. All are in creeks and rivers less than three hours from the trailhead. None have any man-made structures visible from them.

Privacy is listed for each entry along with icons indicating the best season to visit, the difficulty to 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.

Topographical maps for each hole are annotated with coordinates so GPS users will finally have some routes they can program into their navigation units. Severe techno-dweebs can even download the waypoints from our website. Navigation nerds aside, anyone with a home computer can copy a map and directions for printout at home - way more convenient than lugging the whole book into the hills when you're only using two pages.

Hiking for its own sake is fine. It's great. But wouldn't you rather have a hike with an objective? Day Trips with a Splash tells you the best places to go... and where not to go. The back of each chapter has a "Why Bother" section listing places that aren't worth your time. Afterall there are only 55 hours until Monday. Might as well make the weekend count.