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Yordas Cave in Yorkshire Dales National Park

Sight · Yorkshire Dales National Park

Yordas Cave

Old steps, a dark chamber and a hidden underground waterfall

Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Type
Sight
Nearest trail
6 km
Audio stories
2 nearby
  • Parking
DirectionsMap

Hear the audio tour

Yordas Cave in Kingsdale

Overview

About Yordas Cave

Why stop

  • Large underground chamber and hidden waterfall
  • Easy first taste of caving in safe conditions

Heads up

  • Rapidly rising water after heavy rain
  • Wet, dark and uneven underfoot
A former Victorian show cave sits in West Kingsdale below Gragareth, inside the Yorkshire Dales National Park. A stone archway and old steps lead straight from the hillside into a large limestone chamber with a stream running through it, so you can experience a genuine cave without any technical caving. The surrounding glaciated steep limestone valley is worth the pause on its own, and the stream here heads on towards the Kingsdale Master Cave system.
Parkwolf’s verdictWhy stop

Map

Where it is

Loading the Yorkshire Dales map
Full map
SightYordas Cave54.20681, -2.45294
Keep this map with you offline in the Parkwolf app

Plan your stop

Before you go

Best time to go

Go in settled dry weather and good daylight, which keeps water levels lower and makes the approach and the steps easier to handle. Be realistic about the limitations: there are no facilities or toilets, no public transport, and very limited parking on a narrow road, so bring your own water and snacks. The visit is short, and in poor conditions the walk in is muddy and the cave floor slippery.

1 active Yorkshire Dales alert

  • ClosureTemporary closures on public rights of wayAvoid the listed sections of public rights of way while their temporary closures or pedestrian prohibition are in force. - Public Bridleway No. 52 (05.Official details
Yorkshire Dales alerts
A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone
Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Yorkshire Dales Tour Guide

Your drive to Yordas Cave, narrated.

Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Yorkshire Dales National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.

Recorded for this place

Yordas Cave in Kingsdale
0:00 / 0:28
“You're approaching the roadside access for Yordas Cave in Kingsdale. A short, often muddy walk and old stone steps lead into a large dark chamber once used as a Victorian show cave.”

Plays as you drive up to Yordas Cave in the Parkwolf Yorkshire Dales Tour Guide.

More stories near here in the app

  • When the Falls Became an Outing
  • The Railway’s Quiet Memorial
  • The Valley Beneath the Ice
  • The Rescue Team Born Underground
  • 298 audio storiesacross Yorkshire Dales’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
  • Wildlife heatmapsfor Eurasian Otter, Atlantic Salmon, Short-eared Owl, and 13 more
  • Works offlinemaps, 99 trails, 63 places, and audio download before you lose signal
  • CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
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“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
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Guide

More about Yordas Cave

What to seeThe main chamber, entered through the stone arch and old steps, with the stream flowing across…
  • The main chamber, entered through the stone arch and old steps, with the stream flowing across the floor.
  • The Chapter House, roughly 40 m inside, where an underground waterfall drops into the cave.
  • Old inscriptions on the rock, recorded as part of the cave's history. Modern graffiti is unacceptable, so leave no marks of your own.
The routePark in the small hard-standing lay-by on the narrow Kingsdale road between…
  • Park in the small hard-standing lay-by on the narrow Kingsdale road between Thornton-in-Lonsdale and Dent; it holds only about three to five cars.
  • Go through the wide five-bar gate, follow a short grassy and often muddy approach to a second gate, then take the old steps down to the entrance.
  • Allow around 400 m return to the waterfall with about 25 m of ascent on the way back out.
  • The land belongs to Braida Garth Farm and is access land: no permission is required, but be courteous, follow reasonable requests from the landowner, and never block gateways or passing places.
Gear and safetyCarry a reliable strong torch or head torch (ideally with a spare light), wear sturdy footwear…
  • Carry a reliable strong torch or head torch (ideally with a spare light), wear sturdy footwear or wellies, and preferably a helmet, as the ground is uneven and there is a risk of falling rock.
  • The interior is dark, and the floor can be wet, muddy and slippery, so move slowly and watch your footing.
  • Do not enter after prolonged or heavy rain: water can rise rapidly to around 2 m.
  • Upper passages, sharp drops and Yordas Pot require proper caving experience and equipment. Stay in the main chamber unless you are properly equipped.
  • Dogs should be managed according to livestock signage.
cavewaterfallgeologycavingkingsdalevictorian

Wildlife

Wildlife in Yorkshire Dales

All Yorkshire Dales wildlife maps
Eurasian Otter10 sightingsEurasian OtterMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapAtlantic Salmon11 sightingsAtlantic SalmonMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapShort-eared Owl12 sightingsShort-eared OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapWestern Barn Owl22 sightingsWestern Barn OwlMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapTawny Owl27 sightingsTawny OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapCommon Kingfisher34 sightingsCommon KingfisherMost seen around 7 AMSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Yorkshire Dales. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.

Keep exploring

Near Yordas Cave

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

ChallengingWhernside Circular12.6 km · 4.5 hr · 6 km awaySteep ridge loop from Ribblehead Viaduct to a 736 m fell summitModerateIngleton Waterfalls Trail6.9 km · 3 hr · 6 km awayTicketed 4.3-mile loop past Thornton Force through two wooded gorgesEasyRibblehead Audio Trail2.4 km · 1.5 hr · 6 km awayShort audio loop through navvy camps and lime kilns beneath the viaductModerateRibblehead Quarry Walk2.7 km · 1.3 hr · 6 km awayQuarry ponds, limestone pasture and a Viking farmstead in 1.68 milesModerateAye Gill Pike from Dent10.1 km · 3.5 hr · 8 km awayQuiet ridge climb above Dentdale to a trig point with big views

More stops nearby

Sight · 3.9 km awayThornton ForceWater drops over 170 million years of missing geological timeSight · 4 km awayWhernside SummitWhernside Summit: 736 m of ridge walking above RibbleheadSight · 4.4 km awayBeezley FallsCascades and Triple Spout on the River Doe in oak woodlandSight · 4.6 km awayWhite Scar CaveBritain's longest show cave: a guided mile of waterfalls and stalactitesSight · 5.4 km awayRibblehead ViaductVictorian stone arches striding across open moss below WhernsideSight · 5.8 km awayIngleborough SummitIngleborough Summit: flat gritstone plateau with an ancient hill fortSight · 6 km awayIngletonLimestone base camp for Three Peaks walks, caves and waterfallsSight · 7.9 km awayGaping GillA moorland beck vanishes 100m down into a vast hidden chamber

Parkwolf’s Yorkshire Dales ranking

Top sights in Yorkshire Dales

All 63 places
  1. 1Malham CoveSight
  2. 2Aysgarth FallsSight
  3. 3Ribblehead ViaductSight
  4. 4Gordale ScarSight
  5. 5Bolton CastleSight
  6. 6Janet's FossSight

Take Parkwolf to Yorkshire Dales.

The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.

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