California cliff jumping spots
Northern and Central California cliff jumping means Tahoe granite, Sierra swimming holes on the Yuba, American and Tuolumne, and redwood-country river holes on the Eel and Smith. The Sierra rivers are lethal in spring runoff and perfect by mid-summer; Tahoe is jumpable from June through September.
33
cliff jumps
75 ft
tallest listed
22
counties
Showing 33 of 33 in California
Cliff jumps33
75 ftMcCloud Middle Falls
Expert Unverified 35 · 50 · 75 ft Siskiyou CountyThe middle tier of the McCloud River falls, a 50-foot-tall, 100-foot-wide curtain dropping into a deep basalt bowl. The jumping is from the cliffs beside the falls: a 35-foot…
70 ftEmerald Pools (South Yuba River)
Expert Unverified 20 · 40 · 70 ft Nevada CountyThe best-known cliff-jumping hole in Northern California: a chain of granite pools on the upper South Yuba off Bowman Lake Road, 30 minutes east of Nevada City. The upper pool has…
60 ftAngora Lakes cliffs
Intermediate Unverified 15 · 40 · 60 ft El Dorado CountyA granite bowl above Fallen Leaf Lake in South Lake Tahoe with a beach, a rental cabin resort, and cliffs across the water from 15 feet up to a 60-foot face that has been jumped…
60 ftGod's Bath (Clavey River)
Intermediate Unverified 20 · 60 ft Tuolumne CountyA cylindrical granite basin scoured out below a small falls on the Clavey River north of Yosemite, with an underwater archway and boulders and ledges around the rim. The usual…
50 ftHatchet Creek Falls (Lion Slide Falls)
Intermediate Unverified 25 · 30 · 40 · 50 ft Shasta CountyA 25-foot falls into a deep pool 45 minutes east of Redding, with a notched log to climb the falls and cliffs on both sides: about 30 feet on the right, 35 to 40 on the left, and…
45 ftPope Creek rock (Lake Berryessa)
Intermediate Unverified 30 ft deep Napa CountyThe big rock at Pope Creek Cove beside the Pope Creek Bridge on the north end of Lake Berryessa, 40 to 50 feet off the water on the main takeoff and higher above. Party central…
40 ftChina Wall (Lake Natoma)
Intermediate Unverified 15 · 40 ft Sacramento CountyA sloping rock wall on Lake Natoma below Folsom Dam, about 40 feet lip to water, plus lower tree and rock jumps along the same bank. Sacramento's closest cliff spot.
40 ftKangaroo Lake jump rock
Intermediate Unverified Siskiyou CountyA 40-foot rock outcrop on a small, deep alpine lake in the Klamath National Forest south of Callahan.
40 ftKnights Ferry (Stanislaus River)
Intermediate Unverified Stanislaus CountyA 40-foot rock jump on the Stanislaus below Lover's Leap, the 200-foot wall above the Knights Ferry Recreation Area and its 1863 covered bridge. Central Valley locals float and…
40 ftRed Rock pools (Santa Ynez River)
Intermediate Unverified 15 · 40 ft Santa Barbara CountySanta Barbara's swimming hole: blue-green pools under red and gold sandstone at the end of Paradise Road, half an hour from State Street. The big rock above the main pool is a…
40 ftRooster Rock (Rubicon Wall, Lake Tahoe)
Intermediate Unverified 15 · 25 · 40 ft El Dorado CountyThe most popular jump on Lake Tahoe: a narrow granite fin on the Rubicon Wall between D.L. Bliss and Emerald Bay, about 25 feet to the water with a fixed rope up the back and more…
35 ftBlue Streak (North Fork Stanislaus)
Intermediate Unverified 12 · 22 · 35 ft Calaveras CountyThe pool a mile downstream of Candy Rock, named for the band of blue granite running through the rock above it. River-left is lined with boulders and cliffs giving everything from…
30 ftBear Hole (Upper Bidwell Park)
Beginner Unverified 5 · 30 ft Butte CountyChico's swimming hole: deep basalt pools on Big Chico Creek in Upper Bidwell Park with cliffs rising about 30 feet over the central pool. Most people jump the lower shelves; the…
30 ftCandy Rock (North Fork Stanislaus)
Beginner Unverified 12 · 30 ft Calaveras CountyGranite pools on the North Fork Stanislaus below Arnold, with a 12-foot warm-up cliff at the upper hole and a 30-foot jump plus a 25-foot natural slide into the falls pool below.…
30 ftFarad cliffs (Truckee River)
Beginner Unverified 15 · 30 ft Nevada CountyRock walls on public land along a deep section of the Truckee at Farad, on the California side of the state line between Truckee and Reno. Cliff jumps and deep-water solo climbing…
25 ftPotem Falls
Beginner Unverified 10 · 25 ft Shasta CountyA 70-foot ribbon falls into a big round pool on the Pit River arm of Shasta Lake, a quarter-mile walk from Fenders Ferry Road. Rope swings hang off the left side and the rock…
20 ftEdwards Crossing (South Yuba River)
Beginner Unverified 10 · 20 ft 20 ft deep Nevada CountyCrystal pools 20 feet deep beside the 1904 steel arch bridge on North Bloomfield Road, the easiest Yuba swimming hole to reach from Nevada City. Granite rock around the pools for…
20 ftKimtu Beach (Trinity River)
Beginner Unverified 10 · 20 ft Humboldt CountyA sandy beach on a deep bend of the Trinity at Willow Creek, with a rock wall on the far side that jumpers work from a few feet up to about 25. The Humboldt County summer spot.
20 ftMyrtle Beach (South Fork Smith River)
Beginner Unverified 10 · 20 ft Del Norte CountyA sandy beach on the South Fork of the Smith, the clearest river in California, facing a big rock across a deep blue pool that draws a line of jumpers on hot days. Cold, clean,…
20 ftRainbow Pool (South Fork Tuolumne)
Beginner Unverified 10 · 20 ft Tuolumne CountyA developed swimming hole on the South Fork Tuolumne off SR 120, 15 miles east of Groveland and 30 minutes from Yosemite's Big Oak Flat gate. Small falls you can slide, clear…
20 ftRichardson Grove jump rock (South Fork Eel)
Beginner Unverified 5 · 20 ft Humboldt CountyThe swimming hole in Richardson Grove State Park on the South Fork Eel, where the river bends under the redwoods against a rock with jumps from 5 to 20 feet into a deep pool. The…
20 ftRock Creek (Feather River Canyon)
Beginner Unverified 10 · 20 ft Plumas CountyA granite side canyon off the North Fork Feather 40 miles east of Chico, with a natural rock waterslide, a small falls, and a swimming hole with rocks to jump. A…
20 ftStandish-Hickey swimming hole (South Fork Eel)
Beginner Unverified 10 · 20 ft Mendocino CountyA big emerald pool on the South Fork Eel below the campground at Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area near Leggett, with a sandy family beach on one side and rocks on the other…
18 ftHell Hole (Trinity River, Pigeon Point run)
Beginner Unverified 12 · 18 ft Trinity CountyA deep green pool in a rock gorge on the Pigeon Point run of the Trinity between Big Flat and Junction City, with two jump rocks of about 12 and 18 feet that every rafting trip…
16 ftHoyt's Crossing (South Yuba River)
Beginner Unverified 8 · 16 ft Nevada CountyWater-sculpted granite perches above deep green pools on the South Yuba, a mile-plus upstream of the old Highway 49 bridge. The main jump rock past the beach has takeoffs at about…
15 ftMuir Rock (Kings Canyon)
Beginner Unverified Fresno CountyThe big granite boulder over the South Fork Kings River at Roads End, where John Muir gave talks and where every Kings Canyon visitor jumps 15 feet into a deep emerald pool. A…
15 ftThe Forks (Smith River)
Beginner Unverified Del Norte CountyWhere the Middle and South Forks of the Smith come together at the head of the Jedediah Smith redwoods, with a beach, a boat launch, and a jumping rock over deep water at the…
10 ftGarden of Eden (San Lorenzo River)
Beginner Unverified Santa Cruz CountyA deep blue pool on the San Lorenzo River in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, reached by a mile-and-a-half round trip down Ox Fire Road from Highway 9. Santa Cruz's swimming…
Big Rock Hole (San Lorenzo River)
Unverified Santa Cruz CountyA wide, deep pool on the San Lorenzo in the middle of Henry Cowell Redwoods, named for the big rock beside it that everyone jumps off feet-first. There is a sandy beach and a rope…
East Fork San Gabriel River pools
Unverified Los Angeles CountyThe string of granite pools along the East Fork on the way to the Bridge to Nowhere — aquamarine water, a natural slide at the first one, and ledges to jump from, thirty-five…
Gull Lake rope swings (June Lake)
Unverified Mono CountyTwo rope swings on the west shore of Gull Lake, the small one in the June Lake Loop under Carson Peak. The lake sits at 7,600 feet with Sierra granite behind it, so the setting is…
Santa Paula Canyon Punch Bowls
Unverified Ventura CountyA staircase of clear pools carved into the sandstone of Santa Paula Creek above Ojai, the best-known swimming and jumping spot in Ventura County. Ledges around the bowls give…
Upper Lake Clementine rocks
Unverified Placer CountyThe upper end of Lake Clementine, where the North Fork of the American backs up behind the dam into a green, walled canyon forty minutes from Sacramento. People jump from the…
Cliff jumping in California: common questions
- Where can you go cliff jumping in California?
- SmartLeap maps 33 cliff jumping spots in California across 22 counties, concentrated around Lake Tahoe, the Sierra foothills, the Yuba and American rivers. Every listing gives the jump heights, the water depth where someone has measured it, how to get there and what the hazards are.
- What is the highest cliff jump in California?
- The tallest jump mapped here is 75 ft at McCloud Middle Falls. Height is not the same as safety: depth under a jump changes with the season, so check your own landing before anyone goes off it.
- Is cliff jumping legal in California?
- It depends on who manages the land. Spots that a land manager has closed to jumping are deliberately left off this map, and where a place has a posted rule — a height limit, a waiver, a seasonal closure — the spot page says so. Signs on site always win over anything written here.
- When is the season for cliff jumping in California?
- Most of it runs from mid-July into September, after spring runoff drops out of the rivers and the water has had a few weeks of sun. Early-season flows are the thing that actually kills people, not the height of the rock.