Boston Spa
Another wonderful place to access the Wharfe, which here is wide, tree-lined and peaceful.
This site is provided for information. People do swim at this spot, but this website in no way should be taken as proof that it is ‘safe’ to swim here. You must always make your own risk assessment, based on your own level of swimming competence and the conditions. Swim at your own risk. Always err on the side of caution, particularly if you are new to open water swimming. Educate yourself about the risks.
About
Boston Spa is a village on the Wharfe, which in the 18th century attracted visitors for a sulphur spring from the limestone. Here the Wharfe is gorgeous and wide. It’s swimmable for about 2km upstream from the weir.
You can access the river near the weir, or further upstream, at Jackdaw Crag.
Getting there
Parking is available in the car park next to the main church - the postcode is LS23 6DR. From here it is a 5 minute walk down to the river - the river is significantly lower than the car park, but the paths are very good.
Walk out the bottom of the car park , across the field and through the gap in the hedge. Turn right on the path and follow it down. At the bottom turn left towards the river, and walk upstream, past the weir. There are a couple of place to access the water along here - a popular one is where there are some metal railings around a pipe.
Alternatively you can walk along to Jackdaw Crag and access the water there. Instead of turning left on the path, turn right, and follow it. Keep going until the path starts going sharply downhill – you’ll go down the crag and over a little wooden bridge, then turn right. This will take you down to the water’s edge and the bench for getting changed. The riverbed does shelve off quite steeply here, so you will be out of your depth very quickly once you’re in. The water can also be quite cold here even in mid summer due to the stream feeding the water just there.
I recommend using the what3words app to help find exact spots. Selecting the links below will take you directly to a 3 metre square location.
Car Park - https://w3w.co/nuns.pimples.whirlpool
Railing entry to water point -https://w3w.co/accent.epidemics.estuaries
Thanks to Mark Wayt who wrote the Boston Spa guide for FLOWS, which I’ve adapted for this.
River Swimming
Part of the charm of rivers is that they are changeable. For a swimmer this means that you must always assess the safety of entering the water. The depth and the speed of the water can increase quickly. You should avoid swimming in the Wharfe after heavy rain - this is when there is likely to be increased flow, as well as runoff from fields and often from treatment works.
Always be prepared to postpone your swim if the conditions aren’t right for you.
A brilliant resource for swimmers is the river gauge map. The nearest station to Boston Spa is Flint Mill. You can check the level before you travel to have an indication of what to expect.
You can also check the flow from a meter at Tadcaster. Above 12 m3/s the river is quite fast and difficult to swim against. Keep an eye on recent weather - it can take a couple of days for heavy rain from the dales to make it down to Boston Spa.