Introduction
Crackpot is a stunning short trip in Swaledale with a fine main streamway. This is excellent for adventurous novices, while enjoyable for experienced cavers alike. Crackpot Cave is passable in moderately wet conditions, but in flood, the stream passage can become hazardous. Use sensible judgement and do not enter the streamway if the force or depth of the water presents any concerns to the abilities of your group.
Parking and Finding the Cave
Travelling west from Reeth, turn left just after Low Row and then right at the next junction, signed to Crackpot. Follow the road, keeping left at a junction with a farm track and then straight on at the junction in Crackpot village. Follow the road all the way to the end at Summer Lodge, where cars can be parked just before the gate without blocking access. It is also fine to park off the track immediately beyond the gate.
Follow the track beyond the gate, which commences a steep but short ascent up the hill. At the top of the hill a flat grassy plateau is reached.
About 50m ahead, turn left to leave the path and follow the wall. After 100m the wall turns right; keep following it for a short distance to a rough track (marked by metal poles) heading steeply down the cliff. This snakes down onto a balcony at the foot of a cliff, directly above the main cave resurgence. The unfairly named ‘Kneewrecker Entrance’ is a small hole at the foot of the cliff. The original Main Entrance has collapsed.
Route Description
The Kneewrecker entrance is narrow and leads down into a small chamber. Sliding over a slab gains a continuing easy crawl, soon reaching a junction. Straight on leads towards the original Main Entrance and some very low and unpleasant crawls. The way on is a short drop down on the left into a lower crawl through shallow pools, followed by a combination of easy crawls and small chamber to arrive at the Main Streamway.
Make sure to take note of your point of entry to the streamway so you can retrace your steps later (it is easily missed). Downstream, the water is usually lost down an impassable hole, but a dry large passage leads for about 30m to an area of the cave called The Intestines. This is essentially an area of collapsed blocks which must be carefully navigated by crawling (not recommended for novices due to dubious stability) to emerge back into larger passage leading to the inside of the now collapsed original Main Entrance.
Upstream from where you join the streamway, is a fabulous river passage, with some nice decorations high-up. This passage can be followed for 100m to Column Chamber, easily recognisable thanks to the floor to ceiling calcite column. This is a good time to remind novice groups of cave conservation, including the importance of not touching any of the formations, including the column.
Beyond Column Chamber, the stream emerges from an impassable boulder choke. Just behind the column, on the left, is a passage leading upwards for 20m into The Turnip Field, a spectacular chamber with large mounds of floor calcite and a gallery of overhead straws. Visitors to this chamber are urged to follow a central path up the centre of the chamber to a viewing area at the top to keep the chamber as clean as possible.
At the top/back of the chamber is a climb down leading back to the stream, which can be followed another 30m upstream to a terminal boulder choke, with the water emerging. This has been extensively dug over many decades and is unstable; avoidance is recommended.
Route description taken from the CNCC website.
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