To say climbing in Somerset’s iconic Cheddar Gorge is special is an huge understatement. But access to the south side of the Gorge is fragile and continued access relies upon climbers taking care to ensure they follow the agreements in place with the landowner, Cheddar Caves & Gorge.

Cheddar Gorge from Cheddar is a climb in the region England. It is 4.6km long and bridges 194 vertical meters with an average gradient of 4.2%, resulting in a difficulty score of 115.

Ticket prices & discounts

Walking on the cliffs is free if you want to avoid paying for cave entrance. Although the walk does pass through land owned by Cheddar Gorge, an agreement with the National Trust means that walkers can pass through this area without paying, and access the lookout tower even without a ticket.

The caves at Cheddar Gorge are unlikely to re-open in 2020 or even 2021, with up to 40 jobs at risk at the attraction. When open, the activities on offer on the site including outdoor rock climbing, adventure caving and a freefall inside the Black Cat Chamber in Gough’s Cave, one of the area’s stunning show caves.

Yes! The Gorge is a public road with public footpaths from the village of Cheddar which are all free to access. Fee’s only apply for Cheddar Gorge Tourist attractions like the Caves and Jacobs Ladder.

Somerset
Cheddar Gorge is a limestone gorge in the Mendip Hills, near the village of Cheddar, Somerset, England. The gorge is the site of the Cheddar show caves, where Britain’s oldest complete human skeleton, Cheddar Man, estimated to be 9,000 years old, was found in 1903.

When planning a visit to Cheddar Gorge, the main attraction is undoubtedly the cave – Gough’s Cave. But we didn’t, and we discovered that this stunning little village has so much to offer visitors besides its caves. If nothing else, it’s worth a trip just for the views. Cheddar Gorge is absolutely breathtaking.

Weston-super-Mare.

Most of the North side is open year round, and most of the South side is only open during the winter (1st October – 15th March inclusive). In addition to this, there are sometimes bird bans between March and July.

The current access agreement is rather complicated, and is described in detail in the guidebook. Roughly speaking, the gorge is split into the North side, owned by the national trust, and the South side, owned privately by Cheddar gorge and caves.

Cheddar Gorge can be described in a multitude of ways, but there’s no disputing that it is one of the UK’s best sport climbing destinations. Where else can you find 4-pitch bolted routes, such a range of grades, or such a spectacular situation as the awesome routes on Sunset Buttress? It hasn’t always been this way.