Britain's biggest gorge, a mile of grey limestone cliffs in the Mendips with famous show caves cut into the rock below
Open accessNational Trust land — free to wander
The road up Cheddar Gorge runs between the tallest inland cliffs in the country, grey limestone walls rising some 130 metres on either side — the largest gorge in Britain, cut into the southern edge of the Mendip Hills. You can walk the clifftops on a loop for the best of the views, or drive the winding road through the bottom. Down at the foot are the show caves, Gough’s Cave and Cox’s Cave, lit and laid out with walkways through chambers of stalactites and coloured flowstone. Gough’s Cave is where Cheddar Man was found, the near-complete skeleton of a man who lived around 9,000 years ago and is Britain’s oldest complete human skeleton. The National Trust owns the northern side of the gorge, which is free to walk; the caves and the attractions at road level are run separately and charge admission. The village of Cheddar sits at the bottom, and there is more limestone walking on the Mendip Way.
