From Bridgeton to Bensalem, here are 8 spots to swim in Bucks County

When I arrived in Bucks from Florida, I was a major water bug. Years of cave diving the springs, boating and slalom waterskiing made me yearn for a swim across the Delaware in my new locale in Lower Bucks. But the river estuary was polluted. So tainted that Atlantic fish couldn’t get upstream to spawn.

With that in mind, my dog Lucky and I drove upriver beyond the estuary to Frenchtown and together we swam across the sparkling clear water. 

Since then, as a weekender, travels with my wife, daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren Dashiell and Margaux and their dog Marcel have taken us to special places to cool off the old-fashioned way. Here are a few suggestions. 

Giving Pond, Bridgeton 

A childhood storybook by poet Shel Silverstein gave inspiration to this wonder in Upper Bucks County. The 150-acre preserve is a state park developed out of a water-filled former gravel quarry. Today, those questing solitude enjoy a lake studded with vegetated islets and beaver dams.  

Dipping your feet in the clear, cold water from a dock or paddling canoes, kayaks and rowboats across still waters is intoxicating. Small mouth bass, turtles, loons and many bird species proliferate. Picnic tables sit in grassy areas near the boat launch. 

Location: 1069-1087 River Road, Upper Black Eddy.