Arroyo Seco
Carmel Valley / Los Padres National Forest · near Carmel Valley Village · Central Coast
Swimming & Hot Springs
At a glance
- Temperature
- ~65–75°F (summer)
- Cost
- FREE · Los Padres National Forest
- Season
- June–October · Arroyo Seco Road access varies — check road conditions
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
- Safety
- Poison oak grows throughout the canyon — wear long pants on the approach trails and wash exposed skin after visits. Water shoes strongly recommended for the rocky creek bed. The canyon can flood quickly in storms.
Swimming & Hot Springs detail
- Nickname
- The Central Coast's Hidden Canyon Pools
- Type
- swimming-hole
- Temp
- cool
- Clothing optional
- No
- Directions
- From Carmel Valley Road (G16), turn south onto Arroyo Seco Road. Follow the winding road into the canyon approximately 25 miles until it parallels the creek. Multiple pullouts provide access to swimming holes. Cell service ends well before the swimming areas — download a map.
- Pools
- Multiple natural pools formed where Arroyo Seco Creek widens between limestone canyon walls · Clear, jade-colored water · Wide, calm stretches between canyon walls · One of the few California swimming holes with a genuine limestone canyon aesthetic
- Intl tip
- The Carmel Valley wine region (Bernardus, Folktale, and several smaller producers) is 15 minutes from the Arroyo Seco Road turnoff. A canyon swimming morning and a wine tasting afternoon is one of the Central Coast's finest days. The village of Carmel Valley has good restaurants and a genuinely pleasant main street without Carmel-by-the-Sea's tourist density.
The guide
The Arroyo Seco corridor in the Los Padres National Forest is the Central Coast's best-kept swimming secret — a winding canyon …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Arroyo Seco — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 36.1497, -121.428