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The Illinois River in Oregon is full of amazing crystal clear swimming holes, making it one of the best places to swim near Grants Pass. Not all Illinois River swimming holes are created equal though! Some are quite tricky to access, others offer river access right off the road, and while most places to swim along the Illy are great for kids, there are some downsides to some of them!
With multiple roads leading to the Illinois River swimming holes, there are way more swimming holes on the Illy than most people expect. The most popular places are off of Illinois River Road, just out of Selma. Though there’s quieter river access past 8 Dollar Mountain heading to Little Falls Campground and even Illinois River access on both the east and the west forks of the river.
In this post, we’re diving into the details of the swimming holes down Ilinois River Road, along with a few other fun spots along different branches of the Illinois River. We’ll take you down Illinois River Road all the way to The Swinging Bridge, looking at each swimming hole along the way! Some of these following Illinois River swimming holes are free to use, however, a few have a $5 fee (noted below).
Please remember, when swimming in the river, always watch your children closely. Be sure to know your swimming capabilities, and test the strength of the current before getting in. You can always throw a stick in the water to see how fast the water is moving! And please, do not jump or dive in the water without first checking how deep the water actually is!
Illinois River Swimming Holes Down Illinois River Road
No Name Swimming Hole | 11 minutes from Selma | Find Exact Location Here
Quick Facts on the No Name Swimming Hole
- No garbage cans. Pack out what you pack in… including toilet paper if you need to use the bathroom down there.
- No Toilets.. bring a portable toilet or a trowel and go 200 feet (70 steps) from the water.
- Parking for only about 4 cars here… great for limiting the number of people at this swimming hole
- 1/4-1/2 mile walk down a shaded path to the river
- Free to use
- Stone/rock along the shore, with a small sandy area too
- No shade until the evening, so pack your own shade if you want it!
Hands down, our favorite swimming hole on the Illinois River. This place rarely has other people at it. We’ve only been a few times with one other group of people, and has a fantastic area for swimming with not much current! We’ve even put up the slackline across the river!
Arguably, the reason there aren’t many other people swimming here is the hike down to the river. However, with the entire hike back up to the parking area being in the shade, we’d say it’s well worth it! Definitely not a place you want to make multiple trips to and from your car though! More of a, grab everything in one go and leave extras behind kind of place.
Be sure to bring plenty of liquids, as there’s not any shade here, and keep the place clean and enjoyable for others by packing out everything that you pack in!
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Sixmile Swimming Hole | 18 minutes from Selma | Find Exact Location Here
Quick Facts on Sixmile Swimming Hole
- $5 Day use fee
- $10 Camping nearby
- Really busy
- One of the larger car parks on the river, however, it fills up quickly.
- Pit toilets
- Covered picnic tables in the parking area
- Short flat walk to the swimming area
Sixmile swimming hole along the Illy is one of the busiest swimming holes down the river. The parking area is always full of cars squeezed into every cranny they can fit. The allure to this place is the flat, easy river access, and pit toilets within the paved parking lot.
Honestly, we prefer fewer crowds, so we’ve never actually spent a full day down at Sixmile swimming hole.
Just before the day-use area, there is a spur road to the right with parking available for those who wish to camp at Sixmile. It’s $10 a night, and on a first come first serve basis. Learn more about camping at Sixmile here.
River Bench Campground | 19 minutes from Selma | Find Exact Location Here
Quick Facts on Illinois River Recreational Site
- Pit toilets
- Lots of parking
- Lots of different camp places
- $10 Camping fee
- Rocky river access with a small area of smaller stones to lay on
This recreational site along the Ilinois River is a huge area of parking and camping. It has pit toilets, and trails leading all throughout multiple shaded campsites. It used to just be an unnamed Illinois River recreational area, however, it’s now River Bench Campground with a $10 camping fee. There are a couple more campgrounds downriver from this location too!
Learn more about River Bench campground here.
Diver’s Hole | 20 minutes from Selma | Find Exact Location Here
Quick Facts on Diver’s Hole Swimming Area
- Still in the sun at 6:15 pm in July
- Free, however, proposed $5 fee for 2021
- Short, steepish hike like 4 min
- Calm water
- Great swimming hole
- Wide trail with poison oak lining the sides
- 8-10 parking spots
- No trash
- No Toilets
Diver’s Hole is a great swimming area with a rock bar in the middle of the river to set up canopies for your day at the river. The walk down to the river is semi-steep (not as bad as other places, but not as easy as the walk at Sixmile), and has poison oak lining the sides of the trail like most other places along the Illinois River.
The parking area here is right along the road, so be sure to push in your mirrors, and try to keep to the dirt/paved parking instead of creating new parking places in the surrounding vegetation.
There are no amenities here, so you will have to pack out what you pack in, and either bring a portable toilet with you or time your trip so you don’t need to go #2 while at the river!
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Store Gulch | 22 minutes from Selma | Find Exact Location Here
Quick Facts on Store Gulch Swimming Hole
- Free
- Vault toilets
- Steep long walk to water
- 5 parking spaces in the lot, but lots of spots on the road
- Busy and loads of high school-aged kids with foul language, drinking, and smoking
- Still in the sun after 6:15 in July
- Big jumping rock
- Loads of space on both sides of the river!
Store Gulch is the Illinois River swimming hole for high-school-aged kids! With that said, we’ve also been with younger kiddos, and even our niece and nephew, and have had a great time too! Just be prepared for lots of rowdy high-schoolers!
The walk down to the swimming hole is quite steep and, unfortunately, is in the sun for the steepest section until well into the evening. However, the swimming hole itself is great! Absolutely massive place with rocks of all sizes to jump off and even a rock that creates a tunnel underwater you can swim through!
One half of the river is pebbled rocks to lounge on, while the other side is mainly sand. With no shade, you’ll want to pack your own shade down, and certainly bring lots of sunscreen and extra water for drinking!
Store Gulch Campground | 22 minutes from Selma | Find Exact Location Here
Quick Facts on Store Gulch Campground
- Still in the sun after 6:00 pm in July
- A big hole right at the entrance — best with high clearance vehicle
- 4+ camp areas with picnic tables
- Pit toilets
- Loads of parking
- Lots of shade and trees
- Small creek with a cute bridge in the campground too
- $10 camping fee, first come first serve
Great small campground with sandy river access. The river access here is really best for the campers, however, you could go down and use it for day use as well. It doesn’t have large jumping rocks like the Store Gulch swimming hole, but it can offer a less crowded swimming hole on the Illinois River!
Learn More | Store Gulch Campground Info
Echo Beach Campground | 24 minutes from Selma | Find Exact Location Here
Quick Facts on Echo Beach Campground Swimming Area
- Pit Toilet
- Parking for 3-4 cars if together, and a couple more on the road
- Picnic tables
- No big swim spot or beachy area, but nice water to wade in
- 2 fire rings
- Free
- 3-4 tent sites
- No trash services
Echo Beach Campground isn’t a place we’d recommend for a day-use swimming area. The river in this area is really nice, and was really quiet while we were there, however, there’s not much of a “swimming hole” at Echo Beach. It’s more of a place to sit in a floaty and lounge in the water and just take in the scenery around you.
Even as a campsite, there aren’t services at Echo Beach, as expected with it being free. As with all other places in this post, you will need to pack out everything you pack in, and bring all your own water and/or water filtering system. Please do not leave your garbage and or cans there at the campground. Nobody else wants to pack your trash out with them!
READ MORE | Check out our Car Camping Gear List Here
Pull Out Just Before Ring Beach | 25 minutes from Selma | Find Exact Location Here
Quick Facts on Pull Out Before Ring Beach
- Calm water
- Half in sun at 5:30
- 6 (ish) parking spots along the side of the road
- Bathrooms close at Ring Beach
- Day use only
- Free
- Small walk to water 1-2 min
- Sandy river access area
- Couple of different small beach spots scattered around
- Small jumping rock for kids
- Nice little swimming hole
- Poison oak all along the trails to get to the river
On Illinois River Road between Echo Beach Campground and Ring Beach Day Use, there are multiple places to pull off on the side of the road and walk down to the water. These spots are great little swimming holes, some with small jumping rocks, and most with a nice beachy area to lay out your stuff close to the water!
The river access from the parking area to the beach is only a few minutes, obviously, depending on your chosen river spot. Be aware of the poison oak in the area! The only downside to these swimming spots along the Illy is that they are in the shade by 5:30/6. So do take note of that if you plan on visiting these swimming spots later in the day!
Ring Beach Swimming Hole | 26 minutes from Selma | Find Exact Location Here
Quick Facts on Ring Beach Swimming Hole
- River access right off the road, no hike down
- Pit Toilets
- Shade at 5:30
- Faster water
- Not really a deep swimming hole
- Free, day-use only
- 10ish parking spots
Ring Beach, or Iron Ring Picnic Site, is probably one of the easiest places to access the Illinois River from Illinois River Road. It’s only a minute’s walk from the parking area, and you have a decent view of your car from most swimming spots. The downside is the river is really not that deep here, so it’s not really a swimming hole, but rather a good wading area, perfect for little kiddos if the water is running slow!
Be sure to bring your own shade, as there’s not much shade along the river, and as with all other places, pack out what you pack in!
Swinging Bridge Swimming Hole | 30 minutes from Selma | Find Exact Location Here
Quick Facts on the Swinging Bridge Swimming Hole
- 4wheel drive, high clearance recommended
- In the sun even after 5:30 in July
- Free
- Long steep walk to the river
- Busy, so get here early
- Proper swimming hole with jumping rocks
- Big parking area at the bottom landing, with a much shorter walk to water
- Few parking spots at the bridge
- Big parking area at the top landing, longer walk to the river mostly in the sun!
The Swinging Bridge on the Illinois River is a popular spot for scuba diving. The water is really deep here, making it a true swimming hole. There are a couple of ways to access the water, but we’d recommend having a high-clearance vehicle and even 4-wheel drive to get to the Swinging Bridge.
The road is in pretty bad shape and has a bad washboard effect along with massive holes and dips to get through…. not to mention it is a steep dirt road that you don’t want to go too slow on or else you’ll probably get stuck!
The swimming at Swinging Bridge is great! It’s a good place to go fishing on the Illinois River as well! If you choose to go here, get in early as the spots along the river fill up quickly!
**As of the July 2023 update on this post, the actual bridge at Swinging Bridge is closed due to hazardous conditions. So, you’ll need to drive to the lower parking lot to swim here.
Illinois River Swimming Holes Closer to Highway 99
Josephine Creek Swimming Hole | 8 minutes from 99 | Find Exact Location Here
Quick Facts on Josephine Creek Swimming Hole
- Pit Toilets
- Free Camping
- Picnic Tables + Fire Rings at Campground
- River Rock
- No Shade
- Calm Water
Josephine Creek Campground is a swimming hole on the Illinois River, I (Heather) have been searching for for literal years. I went to this swimming hole with friends over a decade ago, and couldn’t for the life of me remember where it was.
Then, when Jay and I were recently in Southern Oregon, we found this place, and I couldn’t believe it!
Josephine Creek is a great swimming hole for people of all ages. The water is super calm and deep enough to float around and enjoy lounging in the water. Alternatively, you can cross the creek and head to an area with jumping rocks.
After a day at the river, camp for free at the Josephine Creek Campground!
Finch Road Bridge | 1/2 mile from 99 | Find Exact Location Here
Quick Facts on Finch Road Bridge Swimming Hole
- No services
- Shaded parking on road
- No shade on river
- Short walk to river
- River Rock beach area
- Paddle board or kayak from here
- Calm water
Finch Road Bridge Swimming Hole may just be the closest swimming hole to the main highway in Cave Junction around. It’s actually right in Kerby, just a couple minutes from Cave Junction, and it is the only swimming hole right off the road.
Park in a big open area right off Finch Road, then walk just a few steps to a big open river access point!
The Forks Disc Golf Course | .6 miles off 99 | Find Exact Location Here
Quick Facts on The Forks Swimming Hole
- Free
- Trash
- Toilets
- Picnic areas
- Green grass
- Multiple private beaches
- Covered seating areas in park
Wondering about a swimming hole at a disc golf course? Us too! But shoot, it’s a good one. While the disc golf course and park area is the main attraction here, the river access is really great too!
The Illinois River Forks Disc Golf Park is a popular spot for local families to go for a day of swimming in the Illinois River. There are picnic tables, bathrooms, and lots of green grass for a day on the river.
More Swimming Holes in Oregon
READ MORE | Interested in places to swim on the Applegate River? There’s a post just like this one waiting for you here!
READ MORE | Great Swimming Holes Along the Rogue River
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Places To Stay Near The Illinois River Oregon
AirBnB | With the Illinois River being outside of any real towns, you won’t find any hotels close by, making AirBnB the best choice of places to stay when swimming in the Illinois. With AirBnB, you’ll get to stay out in the country and can even have entire places to yourself! You’ll certainly want to book a night out in nature!
Hotel Stays | If staying in someone else’s home doesn’t tickle your fancy, search for hotels in either Cave Junction, Grants Pass, or Medford. You’ll have a bit of a drive to most of these places. However, with the google map links above, they will be easy to find!
Medford is a bigger city with more hotel options than Grants Pass, but you’ll find some nice ones in Grants Pass too. Cave Junction is the town closest to the Illinois River that has a couple of motel options.
Camping | There are many places to boondock / wild camp along the Illinois River, some are listed above. Seeing how the river runs through the Rogue River – Siskiyou national forest, you’ll be able to find other free wild camping around too! None of these places will have running water, so be sure to pack your own. You can read more about finding great Illinois River camping spots and really places all over the United States in this post here.
Getting To And Around The Illinois River
Flying | The closest airport to the river access spots on the Illinois River is Medford International Airport. Look for flights from your location to MFR (or Medford, Oregon). This is the search engine we use when booking flights.
Rental Cars | If you’re not from the area and don’t have your own car, you’ll want to rent a car to explore these swimming holes on the Illinois River. There is no public transportation accessing these river spots, so you’ll certainly need your own vehicle.
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