Warning: New Danger Awaits for Swimmers at Lower McCloud Falls

The heat is picking up in Northern California, inspiring locals to flock to the best places to cool down – swimming holes. Lower McCloud Falls is certainly one of those holes, even being named one of the 5 Best NorCal Swimming Holes to Beat the Heat. But now there is an added danger you should know about in before jumping into the water.

NorCal adventurer Brandon Beck recently took to social media to explain how jumping into the water below Lower McCloud Falls (the easiest and most popular way into the water) could be dangerous this summer:

View this post on Instagram

(PLEASE READ) Earlier this summer I went to Lower McCloud Falls aka lower Fowler falls to mess around with the usual suspects @croulter @robert.wall @alexsquirrely @faayeded. We didn’t depth check this spot because we all have jumped here lots of times for many years so we assumed it was safe but it wasn’t. I jumped first and I hit a huge rock about 4-6 feet under the water. It had fallen in off the hillside directly into the center of the pool under the waterfall. I got incredibly lucky because I just barely hit the rock and did not get hurt. Since then I’ve heard of several people that have gotten hurt very bad from the new rock😞. Please spread the word to all of your friends that might go here. Please share to spread the message and remember to always depth check. . . @activenorcal @volcom @gopro @tahoenative @redneckrippers #depthcheck #share #cliffjumping #waterfall #waterfalls #safetyfirst #fowlerfalls

A post shared by Brandon Beck (@brandonnbeck) on Jul 19, 2019 at 6:25pm PDT

“Earlier this summer I went to Lower McCloud Falls aka lower Fowler falls to mess around with the usual suspects,” Beck wrote on Instagram. “We didn’t depth check this spot because we all have jumped here lots of times for many years so we assumed it was safe but it wasn’t. I jumped first and I hit a huge rock about 4-6 feet under the water. It had fallen in off the hillside directly into the center of the pool under the waterfall. I got incredibly lucky because I just barely hit the rock and did not get hurt. Since then I’ve heard of several people that have gotten hurt very bad from the new rock.”

Beck posted a sign at the jump spot above the water, but it seems many people didn’t take the warning seriously, since the swimming hole is typically benign. From his post, other people chimed in to explain the horrors of this new rock:

“I was there recently when someone got air lifted out of there,” said Instagram user @mrlicon33.

“Was just there the other day and yeah that rock under the water is freaky deadly…right in the landing zone,” replied Instagram user @andrewjumanji.

“I jumped in after a guy who dove head first from that spot. I turned around to set my stuff down than everyone was screaming call 911 so i jumped in and 2 other guys and i pulled him off to the side cause he was going under due to injuries he had to fly out. He definitely lived though thankfully,” Instagram user @pats_humanexperience.

It’s terrible to see such a great swimming area turn into a dangerous place. Of course, this won’t stop people from visiting (and probably jumping into) this beautiful swimming hole, but since we’ve written so much about it in the past, it was only natural that we warn our readers.

Please be very careful at Lower McCloud Falls, and if you’re there, warn others that may not know. Let’s stay safe, NorCal.