Any suggestions of an easy cave to do on a wet day? I was planning on heading into the Long Churn system tomorrow but the forecast is for a lot of overnight rain...

Something within an hours drive of Malham would be great. Thanks in advance.

I'm currently thinking of Chapel Cave and Great Close Scar Cave near Malham Tarn.

Know SRT and can do simple pitches? If so give Pikedaw a go, its only 5 min drive from Malham so is definitely within an hours drive . It has one pitch of 23 m (30m rope) straight down a shaft from the surface, it then drops into a cave/mine with plenty of passages to explore. Completely weather proof.

There's Scoska, near Arncliffe in Littondale.  Not far to drive, definitely easy - no SRT required, and weatherproof.
Don't forget your kneepads, though ...

Also in Littondale is the short (for non-divers) but pleasant Stonelands Cave which is only a mile or so from Scosca. Down valley is Sleets Gill Cave which, given the amount of rain recently could be acting as a resurgence and is a spectacular sight but DO NOT go down. Above Sleets Gill is Dowkerbottom Cave. The first section is OK in all weather and is very interesting with good formations. Handline needed for entrance climb. Take care, just about anything can flood in these extreme conditions.

Prsonally I'd stay on the surface and do the Malham walk - Janet's Fosse, Gordale, Malam Tarn, Watlow's and the Cove.

Prsonally I'd stay on the surface and do the Malham walk - Janet's Fosse, Gordale, Malam Tarn, Watlow's and the Cove.

Click to expand...

Also Miners cave, which I wandered into on Sunday while doing just that. Climbing up Goredale was like a wet caving trip, I just managed to avoid getting soaked on the scramble up. I think me and John where the only ones to climb it on Sunday.

To reiterate...

Definitely NOT Scoska or Sleetsgill caves.

Both are seriously flood prone!

They flood from the inside out,. So you will think you are going into a nice dry cave, and without warning you will meet a very large volume of water comming towards you.....

Enjoy your time in the Dales.... let us know what you ended up doing...like Alex said Gordale is always a great place to be.

Gordale has some stunning sights.....  Pikedaw is a favourite, exciting place, full of mining history...

Have a good time...

Thank you for the suggestions and safety tips everyone. With so much surface flooding around Malham today we decided on playing it cautiously and had an explore of Chapel Cave and Great Close Scar Cave. For a novice both were interesting. Chapel Cave had some nice golden colored metallic deposits and Great Close Scar Cave had a spider.