After a morning of Jeeping along the gravel backroads around Perry and Madison Counties, Mike Buhs and Devin Wingo ended up at a spot they knew from childhood.

"We were out exploring, but it just got too hot," Buhs said. "So I figured we'd bring [my kids, Anna and Sam] by this place. It's actually the first time they've been here."

Buhs said there were plenty of places he and Wingo had swum when they were younger, filling their spare time with mud and sunburns and ill-advised cannonballs, but said that Amidon Memorial Conservation Area held a special allure.

The conservation area, best known for its picturesque Pink Rocks shut-ins, has a quieter, more easygoing section if you know where to look. The water is clear and cold and well-shaded by the surrounding trees. In other words, it's a perfect afternoon getaway.

"This is like the first really wild place I ever experienced. We wanted to sort of pass it on," he said. "It was something that was fun when we were kids, so we thought why not? It would be nice."

Karter Casasola, 5, gulps for air after inspecting the riverbed while swimming with family on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019, at Amidon Memorial Conservation Area near Fredericktown.TYLER GRAEF

Eleven-year-old Anna was having little luck catching the perch and bluegill that darted around in the shallows, but fellow swimmer Russell Falch, 52, couldn't get them to stop nipping at his skin as he tried to relax in the water nearby. He, like the Buhs children, had been introduced to the swimming hole at 9 years old by his mother and a neighbor while growing up nearby.

"And I've been coming here ever since," he said.

The refreshing power of a good swimming hole, he said, is tough to beat. He said one of his favorite spots as a young man was an artesian well near the cereal factory where he used to work.

"It used to shoot off six, seven feet high," he said. "We'd get off a 12-hour shift on the sugar coat line all sticky; we used to keep Dawn dish detergent in our cars, we'd just go out there and wash off."

There's something about clear, natural water in the summertime that makes you feel clean, Falch said.

Mia Desanto, right, laughs with her aunt, Bethany Desanto, center, and cousin, Christina Desanto on Aug. 17 at Amidon Memorial Conservation Area near Fredericktown.

"Plus, back in the day there was a time before anyone had air conditioning. It was really big back then," he said. "You could come out for a bit, cool your body temperature down and then you'd stay cool for the rest of the afternoon."

The only thing, he said, is that the best swimming holes are almost a secret.

"I tell everybody though. This here's the best swimming hole in Potosi," he said with a wink.

TYLER GRAEF ~ tgraef@semissourian.com Anna Buhs, 11, tries to capture a crawdad while fishing on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019, at Amidon Memorial Conservation Area near Fredericktown.

After a while, Buhs and Wingo decided it was time to pack up and head home. Still catchless, Anna had begun trying to fish with a small crawdad as bait.

"Alright Anna, are you ready to leave?" he asked.

To which she offered a child's ringing endorsement: "No, not yet."