Quarry swimming holes in Vermont

Where the quarry swimming is in Vermont

Vermont is unusually dense with swimming holes — the Mad, White, Lamoille, Winooski, and Deerfield corridors, the Warren Falls and Bristol Falls ledges, Bingham Falls near Stowe, and the Ledges on Lake Willoughby.

In this directory, Dorset Quarry and Marble Street Quarry are among the quarry spots we document in Vermont. The full list below reaches Jamaica, Manchester, Dorset, Rutland, and West Rutland.

Schist and granite ledge pools running clear and cold, typically low to mid-60s°F.

Reading conditions before you go

Clarity is the appeal: with no inflow carrying silt, quarry water is often the clearest freshwater in the state. That same lack of flow means it stratifies hard.

The temperature difference between the surface and ten feet down can be dramatic. Diving through the thermocline is a common trigger for cold-water shock and cramping.

Legal status is the first thing to check. Most quarries are private property with real enforcement, and the permitted ones — such as the supervised dive parks — have posted hours, fees, and rules.

In Vermont, the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation publishes the water-quality and algal-bloom advisories that apply to these waters. Check them alongside the live gauge data rather than instead of it.

Quarry safety in Vermont

Quarry walls are vertical or undercut, so there is often no shallow exit anywhere along the perimeter. A swimmer who tires has nowhere to stand.

Submerged equipment, cable, rebar, and cut ledges are routinely left behind when a quarry floods. Never dive head-first into water you have not surveyed.

Quarries have a disproportionate fatality record relative to how many people swim in them. Prefer documented, permitted sites over fenced pits.

Vermont holes are ledge-and-pothole terrain and jumping injuries are the norm — depths shift between seasons as gravel moves. Rivers rise very fast in summer thunderstorms, and several popular spots have parking restrictions enforced by towns.

Cold water deserves more respect than most swimmers give it. The National Weather Service notes that cold shock can be as severe at 50-60°F as at 35°F, and that the involuntary gasp reflex can be triggered by water as warm as 77°F — which is why entering slowly matters even on a hot day.

When to go

Vermont swims mid-june through early september, with the most reliable water july to august. Warm afternoons in June and early September work at the lower-elevation holes.

Quarry surface water warms through July and August, but the deep layer stays cold all year.

2 of these listings carry their own best-time note from the land manager or from reader reports — open them for the specifics rather than relying on the state-wide window alone.

What to bring: A wetsuit top if you plan to go deep, plus a tow float — visibility from the rim is poor.