A hidden Hudson Valley gem is offering a free way to cool down in the hot temperatures.

The River Pool at Beacon is in the Hudson River, right off Pete and Toshi Seeger Riverfront Park.

Manjiri Makadkar, of Newburgh, says she has been living in the area for the last 25 years and when she visits the park, she had no idea there was a 20-foot diameter and 2 1/2-foot-long rainbow wading pool.

"Whoever comes here are going to have so much fun over here because this is something really different. Ya know? This pool is really excellent," she says.

It was envisioned by the late musician and environmentalist Pete Seeger.

The pool's mission is twofold: it offers the public a free place to swim and hopes to inspire those swimmers to protect the waterway it calls home.

"To let people know that the river is clean and again that, if people want to swim in the river, that we have to keep it clean," says Michael Gersh, the pool's manager.

Since the river pool officially opened more than a decade ago, pool leaders estimate 14,000 people have taken a dip.

The pool is open Tuesday through Saturdays, 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. until late August.

To keep the pool free and open to the public, there's an annual event that takes place in the Hudson River. The 17th annual Great Newburgh to Beacon Fundraising Swim will take place on July 24.