Great Douk Cave

Great Douk Cave is a shallow, but reasonably extensive, cave lying on the shoulder  of Ingleborough in Chapel Le Dale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park England. It is one of the most accessible, yet very attractive, open access caves in the area and well worth the short walk up the hill from Chapel le Dale to see it and certainly worth a look if you pass it on your way up to Ingleborough summit.

 It is for the most part an easy walking passage (with the odd easy squeeze between flowstones), albeit that you are walking in the water of a flowing stream. With minimal equipment,  which could be as little as a flashlight (many hikers wander into this cave without a helmet but watch your head), it is possible to follow the twisting and turning stream past the open daylight of Little Douk Pot until the passage divides. At this point, unless you  have cave exploration experience, it is best to turn back as the roof quickly lowers to a crawl. Retracing your steps is easy just follow the flow of water. Being in an active streamway adds great drama to the visit and, if the stream is flowing well the sounds are quite magical.

The main entrance is in a large collapsed depression near to a mganificent limestone pavement and at the south-eastern end is the obvious entrance to the cave from which the stream emerges as a small waterfall only to disappear between the boulders on the floor of the depression.

The cave can be most easily entered by climbing up the waterfall,. To the left, a low passage leads to where a stream flows out of a short sump. Straight on is easy walking, quickly passing under Little Douk Pot and then on to the continuation of the cave. Eventually you must pass an attractive series of small waterfalls, and the passage then passes through areas of very fine flowstone in themseves well worth the effort of the visit. Soon after that, the passage splits into two and it is time to turn around

The name Douk is used  a number of times in the names of caves and locations in the Yorkshire Dales, In a 1828 book on the local dialect by William Carr gave the meaning as "To bathe, to duck”. You will certainly get your feet wet unless you have some pretty  tall galoshes and if you trip over you may even get a bath. If the stream is flowing well you may also get a soaking climbing the waterfall to the entrance  so it is best to go on a warm sunny day so you can dry off on your way back down the hill.