This summer, a trip to the local swimming hole could land you in hot water.

At least it will at Naked Falls, a scenic spot along the Washougal River in southwest Washington popular among summer swimmers and cliff divers alike, who risk citations for trespassing if they venture into the crystal-clear water.

The falls are located northwest of Beacon Rock State Park on land owned by Weyerhaeuser, an international forest products company that owns large swaths of timberlands across the U.S. - including huge portions in Oregon and Washington.

While Weyerhaeuser sells recreation permits for some of its lands, it does not allow access to the area where Naked Falls is located, and this summer will increase enforcement in the name of public safety.

"The area has been a popular spot but it's very unsafe," Anthony Chavez, a Washington state spokesman for Weyerhaeuser, explained. "There was definitely concern from our part and from the [Skamania County] Sheriff's Office."

Their fears are not unfounded.

In 2015, Naked Falls was the setting of a harrowing video showing a man tumbling onto the rock face of the falls after a high tree branch he had climbed onto snapped. The next day, paramedics responded to a man who injured his leg after jumping from a 10-foot ledge at the waterfall.

The year before, paramedics responded to two injuries on the same day at Naked Falls: a woman who injured her shoulder while swimming, and a boy who wedged his leg between two rocks at the base of a seven-foot waterfall.

In 2010, a California man died after falling off the bridge above the waterfall.

"It's been notorious," said Pat Bond, undersheriff for Skamania County. "It's just one of those problem areas in the county when it's warm ... we get 500 or 1,000 people in the small area and losing control."

In addition to the injuries, deputies respond to assaults, underage drinking and car accidents at the falls, he said. This summer, the sheriff's office will also be present on hot weekends, handing out trespassing citations if people refuse to leave.

"We're going to ask them to leave, we're going to tell them to leave and then we're going to take enforcement action," Bond explained. "It's private property, there's no ambiguity in it at all."

Neither the mishaps nor the warnings have dissuaded folks from flocking to the spot. Every summer people show up at Naked Falls and tear down "no trespassing" signs, Chavez said, sharing their cliff-diving exploits on social media and YouTube.

And while Weyerhaeuser isn't pleased with the brazen trespassing, the company is primarily concerned with keeping people safe.

"The real driver here is safety," Chavez said. "We're trying to get the word out that this area is private property, that it's closed off to public access."

Sorry, swimmers and cliff divers, but that's a policy that's unlikely to change as long as Weyerhaeuser owns the falls.

--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB