Seven places to go beneath the surface, from Britain’s largest cavern to a cave that has been turning objects to stone since 1630
Yorkshire dazzles above ground with iconic landscapes: the Three Peaks, the Dales, and moors stretching north to the coast. But beneath the surface lies a hidden world—far stranger, less explored, and shaped over millions of years by water dissolving limestone, carving vast chambers, shafts, and passageways. Some caverns require ropes and permits, others welcome visitors with Victorian-era paths and lighting, and a few simply await anyone with a torch and sturdy boots.
What follows are seven of the best.
Best for: Geology, history, family days out, experienced cavers, curious walkers
Region: Principally the Yorkshire Dales National Park, with one entry near Knaresborough
Getting there: Ingleton is best accessed by car, with the nearest rail stations at Giggleswick and Clapham, both about 10 km away. Knaresborough lies on the Harrogate to York line.
Time needed: Plan for at least two hours per site; most destinations merit a full morning or afternoon.
1. GAPING GILL, HORTON IN RIBBLESDALE
Gaping Gill is a 98-metre-deep hole on Ingleborough’s southern flank. Fell Beck plunges in an unbroken fall—the tallest of its kind in England—into Britain’s largest natural underground space, able to fit the nave of York Minster. The falling water makes the air in the chamber constantly move, leading early visitors to call it the Hall of the Winds.
For most of the year, Gaping Gill is accessible only to cavers with specialist equipment and permits. For one week in May and one week in August, the Bradford Pothole Club and Craven Pothole Club set up a chair winch above the shaft to take members of the public down one at a time. No caving experience is necessary for the winch descent, but visitors should expect to follow basic safety measures and get wet during the approximately one-minute journey. To reduce the volume of water falling on those descending, part of Fell Beck is diverted during the winch meets down a separate fissure. You still get wet.
The round walk to the shaft from the car park at Horton in Ribblesdale via Ingleborough takes around three hours each way. The shaft is fenced, making it visible from a distance. Stand at the edge and look down during high water, and the sound alone, the deep roar of falling water in the dark, tells you most of what needs knowing.
Where to stay: The Pines Country House in Ingleton offers seven en-suite rooms, locally sourced breakfasts, and conservatory views toward Ingleborough.
Worth Knowing: The connection between Gaping Gill and Ingleborough Cave, 1.5 km away at valley level, was not proven until 1983, when cavers from the Bradford Pothole Club and Cave Diving Group made the underwater link. Water that falls into Gaping Gill resurfaces at Beck Head Cave, next to the entrance to Ingleborough Cave, approximately 17 km of passages later.
2. WHITE SCAR CAVE, INGLETON
A Cambridge undergraduate named Christopher Long found the entrance in August 1923, scrambling through a crack in the rock face above the Ribblehead road, with candles stuck to the brim of his hat, and one of his first sights was a waterfall over which approximately 55 tonnes of water cascade per minute in full spate. Two years later, the cave opened to the public, and it has remained the longest show cave in Britain ever since, with a guided tour covering just over a mile.
The tour winds through underground streams and flowstone banks and past formations named for what they resemble: the Devil’s Tongue, the Witch’s Fingers, the Judge’s Head. The highlight is the Battlefield Cavern, which is 200,000 years old and approximately 100 metres long, with a roof soaring to 30 metres in places. It was first entered by a caver named Hilda Guthrie in 1971, who squeezed through a narrow gap in the boulder choke at the end of a known passage. She was nineteen years old. For 20 years, it remained exclusively the territory of cavers until a tunnel was blasted in 1991 to connect it to the visitor route.
The cave maintains a constant temperature of around 8 degrees, which makes it a relief in summer and cold enough for a jacket in any season. The visitor centre above has a café with what the White Scar website accurately describes as sea views across the Dales, looking west from the limestone scarp towards the Ribble valley below.
Where to stay: The Pines Country House in Ingleton sits just seven minutes by car from the cave on the Ribblehead road.
Worth Knowing: The cave was open to visitors for 68 years before anyone saw the Battlefield Cavern. Hilda Guthrie, the nineteen-year-old who first entered it in 1971, was the only member of the Happy Wanderers Caving Club small enough to pass through the gap in the boulder choke. The club had been exploring White Scar for years.
3. INGLEBOROUGH CAVE, CLAPHAM
The entrance to Ingleborough Cave has always been easy to find. What prevented anyone from entering it was a natural calcite dam inside the vestibule, behind which water had ponded, blocking the passage entirely. In 1837, the landowner James Farrer had his workmen break the dam, release the trapped water, which was reportedly a considerable event, and discover half a kilometre of passage running deep beneath the mountain. In the same year, he recorded the growth rates of stalactites and stalagmites at regular intervals, keeping a log he called The Cavebook, which may be one of the earliest records of systematic speleology anywhere.
Now self-guided and pushchair-accessible, the cave features tall passages, diverse calcite formations, and the notable Sword of Damocles stalactite. At the end, a stream drops into the Abyss, connecting to the Gaping Gill system.
The approach from Clapham village follows the Ingleborough Estate Nature Trail, a 1.3-mile woodland path through limestone scenery including Trow Gill gorge and the Norber Erratics, a field of large sandstone boulders deposited on limestone pavement by a retreating glacier around 12,000 years ago. The Old Sawmill Café at the trail entrance is a listed building serving locally sourced food.
Where to stay: Moor View B&B sits between Ingleton and Clapham, offering panoramic views, an award, and a five-minute drive to the cave.
Worth Knowing: In 2001, cavers working beyond the end of the public path at Ingleborough Cave found the remains of a woolly rhinoceros. The skeleton had been preserved in the cave sediments since the Pleistocene, when temperatures in the Dales were sufficient to support megafauna that had been absent from Britain for over 10,000 years.
4. YORDAS CAVE, KINGSDALE
Yordas Cave, free to visit, sits near the top of remote Kingsdale. Step through a Victorian stone arch and descend into a 50-metre-wide chamber with a stream and a waterfall from the roof of the Chapter House.
The cave was a Victorian tourist attraction from around the 1840s onward, and its reputation was sufficiently established by the mid-nineteenth century that it appears in travel writing of the period. The name is believed to come from either the Norse giant said to have lived here or from Jordass, meaning ‘earth stream’. Charlotte Brontë is said to have visited Yordas Cave and is believed to have drawn on it for the Fairy Cave episode in Jane Eyre, though the connection is based on circumstantial evidence rather than a direct contemporary record.
The Kingsdale valley around the cave is completely unpopulated apart from two farms. There are no passing cars. After heavy rain, the water level in the main chamber can rise rapidly to two metres, and the cave should not be entered in such conditions. In normal weather, visitors need only a reliable torch and walking boots, but should always check recent rainfall and consider safety before entry.
Where to stay: The Marton Arms in Thornton in Lonsdale is a grade II listed coaching inn with real ales and rooms, just a ten-minute drive from Yordas.
Worth Knowing: Yordas Cave was likely explored and used from prehistory. The Yorkshire Dales National Park lists it as a site of significant geological interest; the multiple false floors visible on the chamber walls record successive cycles of deposition and erosion through the ice ages, making the cave an unusually readable record of climate change over several hundred thousand years.
5. STUMP CROSS CAVERNS, GREENHOW HILL
On a winter’s day in January 1860, two lead miners named William and Mark Newbould were following a vein beneath Greenhow Hill when one of their spades went through the roof of a natural passage. They had moved from Derbyshire, where the show caves around Castleton were already bringing in visitors. They recognised what they had found. Rather than clear the formations and use the cave as a waste dump, as was standard practice, they left everything intact, negotiated a lease with the landowner, and charged visitors a shilling each to enter. The cave has been open to the public ever since.
The system lies at 1,275 feet above sea level on the moorland between Wharfedale and Nidderdale, and its formations are dense and varied: a 200,000-year accumulation of stalactites, stalagmites, curtains, and columns, lit by the cave’s own electrical system. The Reindeer Cave, opened to visitors in 2000, forty-five years after it was first discovered by post-war members of the Craven Pothole Club, contains columns and curtains of considerable delicacy. The fossils found at Stump Cross are among the most significant in northern England: four near-complete specimens of reindeer, wolverine, and bison, all dating to the Pleistocene, and now displayed in the visitor centre.
In 1963, a man named Geoffrey Workman spent 105 consecutive days inside the Stump Cross system as part of a study on the psychological effects of total isolation. It was a world record at the time.
Where to Stay: The Yorke Arms, Ramsgill-in-Nidderdale. A Michelin-recommended restaurant with rooms in a former shooting lodge in Nidderdale, twelve miles from the cave.
Worth Knowing: Christopher Long, the Cambridge student who discovered White Scar Cave in 1923, also explored Stump Cross in the same year and found stalactites in colours indicating iron and lead contamination. He later claimed to have discovered an underground lake at Stump Cross, but sealed its entrance after the owners refused to share in the tourist revenue. It has not been relocated since.
6. VICTORIA CAVE, SETTLE
On the day of Queen Victoria’s coronation in 1838, a Settle plumber named Joseph Jackson was excavating a newly discovered cave above the town when he pulled a hyena’s jawbone from the sediment floor. The cave’s timing and the find combined to give it the name Victoria Cave. What followed over the next four decades was one of the most significant archaeological excavations in British history.
The cave had been found the previous year by a tinsmith named Michael Horner, who followed his dog down a foxhole in the limestone scar above Langcliffe and discovered a passage leading to a chamber with Roman objects visible on the surface of the sediment. Roman brooches, coins, pottery, and bronze armlets have been found inside, some of which were imported from France and Africa, leading archaeologists to conclude that the cave was used as a Romano-British religious shrine. Beneath the Roman layer were the bones of spotted hyenas, hippos, narrow-nosed rhinos, and straight-tusked elephants, dating back more than 130,000 years, when Yorkshire’s climate was warm enough to support a megafauna that has been absent from Britain ever since. Charles Darwin himself participated in later excavations in 1870 to support his emerging theories about human evolution.
The cave entrance is accessible on foot from Settle via a steep path along Langcliffe Scar. The interior is not open for exploration as the roof is classified as unstable, but the entrance is significant in itself, and the walk along the scar is one of the most atmospheric short routes in the Dales. The Roman and prehistoric finds are on display at the Craven Museum in Skipton.
Where to Stay: The Talbot Arms, Settle. A traditional market town inn directly on Settle’s main square, ten minutes on foot from the path to Victoria Cave.
Worth Knowing: Victoria Cave provided the first evidence that the ice ages were cyclical rather than a single event, based on the layered stratigraphy found during excavations in the 1870s. This finding, subsequently confirmed at other sites globally, was one of the foundations of modern palaeoclimatology.
7. MOTHER SHIPTON’S CAVE, KNARESBOROUGH
The cave on the bank of the River Nidd has been receiving paying visitors since 1630. That makes the Petrifying Well beside it the oldest paid tourist attraction in England, which is not the most compelling reason to visit, but it is at least a verifiable one. The reason to visit is the well itself, a curved limestone face over which water high in dissolved calcium sulphate and calcium carbonate cascades continuously. Objects hung in the flow accumulate a mineral crust over weeks and months, a process that resembles petrification without being it, and that has been drawing observers for several centuries. A small teddy bear takes about 3 to 5 months to form its crust. A shoe belonging to Queen Mary was petrified here in 1923 and remains on display. Jonathan Ross contributed a pair of underpants at some later point in the attraction’s history.
The cave itself is small. Its significance is the legend attached to it: that in 1488, a woman named Ursula Sontheil was born inside it, grew up around Knaresborough, and became known as Mother Shipton, a prophetess whose predictions reportedly included the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the Great Fire of London, and the end of the world. The accuracy of these attributions depends on when particular versions of her prophecies were recorded; most printed texts postdate the events they claim to predict, but the legend is well established, and the setting on the River Nidd, with its gorge and beech trees, is genuinely striking.
The walk from Knaresborough town centre takes about twenty minutes along the riverside. The beech avenue at the far end of the park, planted in 1739, contains some of the tallest beeches in England.
Where to Stay: Kirkgate House, Knaresborough. A 17th-century guesthouse two minutes’ walk from Knaresborough station, ten minutes’ walk from Mother Shipton’s Cave, with highly rated breakfasts and a garden.
Worth Knowing: The Petrifying Well was first recorded by the king’s antiquary, John Leland, in 1538, nearly a century before it began charging a fee for entry. It appears in his written survey of England as a place already well known and visited, suggesting that the well’s reputation predates the cave’s tourist trade by some margin.
PRACTICAL TIPS
- Use the AllTrails app for approaches to Gaping Gill, Yordas Cave, and Victoria Cave, where the routes involve open fell and unmarked paths. Download maps offline before departure.
- The winch meets at Gaping Gill, running for approximately one week each in May and August. Dates are set by the Bradford Pothole Club and Craven Pothole Club, respectively, and announced on their websites. Turn up early; places are first-come, first-served, and the queue begins before the winch opens.
- Cave temperatures are consistent year-round between 7 and 10 degrees. A light fleece or jacket is essential for White Scar and Stump Cross, regardless of the outside temperature.
- Yordas Cave should not be entered after heavy or sustained rainfall, when the chamber can fill rapidly. Check conditions before visiting.
- For Victoria Cave: the path to the entrance along Langcliffe Scar is steep and uneven. The cave interior is not accessible. Bring the OS Explorer OL2 map for navigation on the limestone scar above Settle.
- Most show caves are open from February to November. Check individual websites before travelling in winter. Stump Cross and White Scar both list seasonal closure dates on their websites.
RESPONSIBLE VISITING
At Gaping Gill, stand well back from the unfenced sections of the shaft rim. Yordas Cave is on private farmland at Braida Garth Farm; access is permitted but should be treated accordingly. Never touch the formations in any cave, including those in show caves; the natural oils on your hands inhibit calcite growth. At Victoria Cave, keep to the path along the scar; the immediate area around the entrance contains delicate archaeological sediments.
READER Q&A
Which cave is best for children? White Scar Cave and Stump Cross Caverns are both well set up for families: lit paths, guided or self-guided tours, cafés, and enough to look at to hold attention for an hour and a half. White Scar’s Battlefield Cavern tends to produce the stronger reactions from younger visitors. Ingleborough Cave is fully accessible to pushchairs and is a quieter, more atmospheric experience with a gentler crowd.
Do I need experience to visit Gaping Gill? Not for the winch meets in May and August, when members of the public can descend by chair. Experience is required for any other time of year, when the only access is by abseil, and the cave is an expert-level undertaking.
Is Yordas Cave safe to visit alone? In dry or settled conditions, yes, with a reliable torch and walking boots. The cave is straightforward in low water. After heavy rain, water levels in the main chamber rise fast and unpredictably; do not enter in these conditions. Go with at least one other person.
What are the opening times for the show caves? White Scar and Stump Cross are generally open daily from late February to November. Ingleborough Cave is open daily throughout most of the year. Mother Shipton’s is open from late March to the start of November. Check each attraction’s website for current times and seasonal variations before visiting.
Can I visit Victoria Cave inside? The entrance is accessible and worth the walk. The interior is not open for exploration due to roof instability. The main finds from the cave are displayed at the Craven Museum in Skipton.
Are the caves dog-friendly? Mother Shipton’s is dog-friendly across most of the site. Yordas Cave is accessible with dogs on leads, given its location on a working farm. The show caves at White Scar, Stump Cross, and Ingleborough do not permit dogs inside the cave systems.
WHERE TO STAY
The Pines Country House, Ingleton. A well-regarded Victorian B&B on the edge of the Dales National Park, close to White Scar Cave, Ingleborough Cave, and Gaping Gill.
Moor View B&B, Ingleton. Award-winning accommodation between Ingleton and Clapham at the foot of Ingleborough, with exceptional views and a short drive to multiple cave entrances.
The Marton Arms, Thornton in Lonsdale. A grade II listed coaching inn ten minutes from Yordas Cave and close to the Ingleton cave network.
The Yorke Arms, Ramsgill-in-Nidderdale. Michelin-recommended restaurant with rooms in a converted shooting lodge, the most refined base for visiting Stump Cross Caverns.
The Talbot Arms, Settle. A traditional market town inn within walking distance of the path to Victoria Cave.
Kirkgate House, Knaresborough. A 17th-century guesthouse two minutes from the station and close to Mother Shipton’s Cave.
The caves are still forming. Every drip deposits a fraction of a millimetre more calcite. Every hour Fell Beck runs, it cuts the shaft a fraction wider. Yorkshire’s underground is not a fixed record but a process still underway, which means everything you see has been different before and will be different again.
