Big Rock Swimming Hole is properly known as the Kenneth H. Ward Swimming Hole and is about a 15-minute drive from Waterbury, right off VT-100B.

Catch a quick peek between the trees as you drive up VT-100B in Moretown on your way to Middlesex and you may see Vermonters swim at Big Rock Swimming Hole. Pull off the highway. Park in the lot. At the riverside, the high embankments keep the swimmers isolated from the road noise above. The trees, hills, and rocks keep the swimming hole right off the highway largely out of view from the road.

The relatively warm, for Vermont, spot on the Mad River welcomes swimmers and jumpers alike. There are shallow spots where you can wade to the other riverbank, and spots deep enough to jump from the rocks above.