There are many incredibly beautiful sights in Yosemite. Everyone knows this but how many know that Mariposa has a few sites equal to anything in Yosemite?

            Hites Cove is an example. This is not an easy place to find and getting there takes nerves of steel. This trip is not for the fainthearted.

 One must travel to the end of Scott Road in Jerseydale and then very carefully descend a narrow rock and boulder strewn twisting mountain road that hangs right over the very edge of a cliff until  reaching the bottom of a small valley beside the South Fork of the Merced River. And viola!

 There it is, the raison d’etre, a spectacular twist in the river making a small cove bordered by huge moss covered granite boulders! The waters here sparkle brightly in the sunshine and are the home of rainbow and brown trout and a few bass.

 It is a great place for a swim if you really like cold snow water.  But, its most striking quality is its stunning natural beauty. To say breathtaking is to underplay the site.  It is simply remarkably beautiful and well worth the treacherous trip down the very edge of the cliff. 

Another way into Hite’s Cove is to traverse a snake filled over grown trail up from Savages on route 149. 

Either way it is a hike well worth the taking.