My family moved to California when I was six, and one of the first places my father took us was the south fork of the Yuba River. Having stumbled upon the river’s crystalline swimming holes, I think he felt like he’d personally discovered them. Every summer, in search of the perfect pool, my sister and I would follow him, hacking and tumbling down steep ravines, through poison oak and blackberry bushes, only to end up at a pebbled beach replete with half a dozen naked hippies.

But despite my memories of itching and flesh wounds, I still go back to the Yuba just about every year, and for good reason: Pouring down from Lake Angela near Donner Pass, the South Yuba’s pure, powerful currents have carved house-size granite boulders into amorphous sculptures with smooth pockets that make perfect sunbathing pods. The granite chunks cause the river to pool about every 30 yards, forming hundreds of deep, blue-green swimming holes that can hit 80 degrees in summer.

My favorite time to go is early to midsummer, when the poppies, lupine, and canyon dudleya are still in bloom. I wait for one of those Death Valley–hot weekends, then head straight to Nevada City, a sort of Mendocino of the foothills. I like to shack up at the Emma Nevada House, a well-restored B&B straight out of the old gold country.

Next morning, I put together a picnic at Dedrick’s Cheese shop and California Organics, then wind northwest on Highway 49 about 5.5 miles—past the unmarked spot where my dad used to pull off. Just after the first river crossing, I park in the popular southside lot. The nearby Independence Trailhead East offers the easiest—and best—access I’ve found yet. There are usually some crowds around the bridge, but within a couple of miles, I can count on finding a living room–size pool without any other bathers or hikers in sight.

Between the verdant pine- and oak-clad walls of the valley, I swim, read, and picnic until sunset, never wanting to be anywhere else on the planet, then head back without a single scratch or trace of poison oak—grateful to my dad for seeking the road less traveled, so that I don’t have to.

California Organics: 135 Argall Way, Nevada City, 530-265-9392, californiaorganics.org; Dedrick’s Cheese: 405 Commercial St., Nevada City, 530-265-6564, dedrickscheese.com; Emma Nevada House: 528 E. Broad St., Nevada City, 530-265-4415, emmanevadahouse.com, from $179; Yuba River: syrcl.org/river.