Description

Hiking doesn’t come much easier and more rewarding than this route around Ease Gill.

It’s a relatively straightforward walk with the opportunity to take on Gragareth (2,060ft) if you fancy adding some height to your journey.

That said, there’s enough intrigue here to keep you exploring whilst getting the miles under your feet. Ease Gill is home to the most varied and longest cave system in the UK.

It currently measures close to 90km of passage under your feet, and connects three counties of England: Cumbria, Yorkshire, and Lancashire The fact that more routes are being discovered all the time makes the possibilities even more exciting. But why should that trouble you, yes? You’re above ground, on a good trail? Quite right, too.

Caving is for a special type of person.

Confined spaces, pitches of hundre3ds of feet, wet, and spiders… you’re best staying on the surface. This route takes you over an expansive fell that is rarely visited by people.

You can follow the dry river up from its lower reaches, discovering the spectacular cave entrances on the way.

When it floods, Ease Gill is a scary place – water disappearing down holes at a rate of knots.

When it’s dry, which is most of the time, there is no finer and peaceful walk in the Dales.

There’s a little gill scrambling if you like, but once you reach the upper part of Ease Gill, you can wander off – popping your head in the numerous entrances and seeing fossils in the river bed. It’s a trip that will have your senses tingling!