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The Blue Hole is a mysterious circular body of water rumored to be bottomless. Today, it seems as if you can see the bottom almost all the way across which looks no more than 7 feet deep, but back in the 1920's, a group of scientists brought a crane to the site and dropped an anchor into it, attached to a mile long steel cable which ran out before they ever hit anything. Though it's located in the heart of the Pine Barrens, where most of the water is murky and rust colored, the Blue Hole's waters are strangely clear and green, despite its name. Its rumored to be a swimming site of the Jersey Devil which is why some call it The Devil's Pool. Water seems to flow out from it into streams, but no water is going in, which means that it is probably fed by underground springs. The Blue Hole's waters are freezing cold even on the hottest summer days. Many unfortunate swimmers have drowned in it which has never been truly explained. Some say, the water's so cold that it makes you cramp up and sink. Others say there are suck holes in it that make whirlpool currents or that the bottom is made of quicksand, but nobody knows for sure. Some say the Blue Hole was created by a meteor that hit the Earth back in the prehistoric times, but according to the old folklore, it's a passageway directly to hell and that if you swim in it, the devil will reach up and pull you down.
The Blue Hole was frequented often by the Lenape Indians who roamed the area celebrating a spirit called Living Solid Face who was the guardian of the forest. In the 1920's a bridge was built over the creek leading to the sacred place, but in the 30's or 40's, someone stole the metal beams that supported the bridge. Today, the wooden remains are still there, poking up out of the water, but the only way to get to the Blue Hole is either to go through the creek, or hike the back trails past a gun range where some old timers placed a bunch of blue dotted signs leading to the hole. The place is bad news, full of quicksand and wild dogs, and possibly the Jersey Devil. Go only at your own risk and I am not providing directions.
BLUE HOLE LINKS
http://www.stuofdoom.com/bluehole.html
The oldest existing writing about the Blue Hole
http://www.angelfire.com/nj/becjosh/BlueHole.html
http://www.weirdnj.com/_unexplained/legendsofthebluehole.html
http://www.weirdnj.com/story_archives/02-08.html#01
http://www.midnightsociety.com/web/legends/BlueHole/BlueHole.html
http://www.NJHM.com/BlueHole.htm
http://www.SouthJerseynews.com/issues/february/m020703h.htm
http://www.weymouthnj.org/upper_watershed.htm
http://www.paddling.net/Places/showreport.html?489
flooby.com/archives/samp-jerseyd8.htm
