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Peveril Castle and Cave Dale

United Kingdom United Kingdom Canyon

Cave Dale

243 m of rock, cut by the Peakshole Water.

See the cutWhen to go

Mick Knapton at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0

The cut

243 metres, to scale.

A slice through Cave Dale where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.

424 m401 m243 m6.7 km rim to rim1.0 kmvertical scale × 2.8424 m401 m243 m6.7 km rim to rim1.0 kmvertical scale × 3.0

Standing on the floor, to scale: Great Pyramid · 139 m

Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is.

243m

Depth

measured on the 30 m relief model

6.7km

Rim to rim

measured on the 30 m relief model

17°

Steepest wall

average over 300 m, from the relief

158m

Floor altitude

Rim to floor

Afternoons, up top and down below.

In July the afternoon reaches 20 °C. The best months to hike are from June to September.

rim · 424 mfloor · 158 m
  1. 5°4°Jan
  2. 6°4°Feb
  3. 8°7°Mar
  4. 12°10°Apr
  5. 15°13°May
  6. 18°16°Jun
  7. 20°18°Jul
  8. 19°17°Aug
  9. 17°15°Sep
  10. 13°11°Oct
  11. 8°7°Nov
  12. 6°4°Dec
Hike: Jun–Sep

Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.

Climbing areas of England

Cave Dale is a canyon in United Kingdom, cut by the Peakshole Water river. The relief model measures 243 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 6.7 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Peak District National Park.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there.

Plan the visit

Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From the sky.

The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.

Cave Dale seen from above (Sentinel-2) N 4 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 14 × 14 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the canyon.

  • 10viewpoints within 5 kmQuarry - no entry, Broken road and 8 more
  • 8marked hiking routes within 4 kmLimestone Way, Pennine Way (Edale to Crowden), Mam Tor Circular Walk, High Peak and 5 more
  • 24footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmAstley's Bridge and 23 more
  • 17caves within 3 km
  • 55car parks within 3 km
  • 15information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
  • 10bus stops within 2 km
  • 24campsites within 8 kmRowter Farm Campsite, YHA Castleton Losehill Hall, chapel view campsite and 21 more
  • 47hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmYe Olde Nags Head, Stonecroft B&B, Hargate Hall and 44 more
  • 17restaurants and cafés within 4 km
  • via ferrata routes within 4 km
  • climbing crags within 3 km
  • rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
  • swimming spots within 3 km
  • named waterfalls within 4 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Towns nearby

  • Hope Valley2.4 km in a straight line
  • High Peak5.6 km in a straight line
  • Tideswell6.7 km in a straight line
  • Hathersage8.3 km in a straight line
  • Dove Holes8.6 km in a straight line
  • Chapel en le Frith9.1 km in a straight line
  • Chinley11 km in a straight line
  • Buxton13 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Cave Dale.

The river that carved it, the waterfalls inside it, the mountains on the rim, the lakes, beaches and island nearby — from our six sister atlases, each with its own figures.

Peakyas31 mountains within 15 km
Mam Tor517 m · 4.9 kmRushup Edge550 m · 6.2 kmStanage Edge458 m · 6.9 kmGrindslow Knoll601 m · 7.6 kmBrown Knoll569 m · 9.4 kmPeak District636 m · 10 kmKinder Scout636 m · 10 kmHigh Stones548 m · 11 km
Lakeyas9 lakes within 15 kmComing soon
Ladybower Reservoir1.9 km² · 3.7 kmDerwent Reservoir0.6 km² · 6.8 kmRedmires Reservoirs0.2 km² · 8.5 kmStrines Reservoir0.2 km² · 9.0 kmHowden Reservoir0.5 km² · 9.7 kmDale Dike Reservoir0.2 km² · 10 kmDamflask Reservoir0.4 km² · 13 kmKinder Reservoir0.2 km² · 13 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Month by month

The weather, at the floor and at the rim.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon · floor5681215182019171386
Afternoon · rim4471013161817151174
Night · rim-1-10248997520
Rain (mm)827064566886929672939090
Rainy days171414141416181814171817
Sun hours/day1.42.63.95.56.45.86.05.14.62.91.71.4
Snow on the ground (cm)885100000026
Afternoon · floorAfternoon · rimNight · rimRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan54-1821.4
Feb64-1702.6
Mar870643.9
Apr12102565.5
May15134686.4
Jun18168865.8
Jul20189926.0
Aug19179965.1
Sep17157724.6
Oct13115932.9
Nov872901.7
Dec640901.4

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (158 m) and the rim (424 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Seen from the trail.

Recent years

Wet years, dry years.

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
202094%253%82%38%23%134%121%112%66%136%92%148%
2021186%145%90%29%197%37%99%61%82%113%53%118%
202240%177%65%57%112%60%52%34%113%118%136%113%
202391%31%179%138%54%66%147%104%129%165%125%173%
2024120%149%153%160%158%64%80%43%172%94%64%105%
2025125%63%39%34%63%71%86%31%169%85%154%147%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Compare with the neighbours.

Cave Dale

United Kingdom

  • 243 mDepth
  • 6.7 kmRim to rim
  • —Length
  • 17°Steepest wall

Ironbridge Gorge

United Kingdom · 94 km

  • 95 mDepth
  • 2.2 kmRim to rim
  • —Length
  • 13°Steepest wall

See the guide

Gordale Scar

United Kingdom · 83 km

  • 287 mDepth
  • 13 kmRim to rim
  • —Length
  • 18°Steepest wall

See the guide

How Stean Gorge

United Kingdom · 89 km

  • 290 mDepth
  • 7.9 kmRim to rim
  • —Length
  • 22°Steepest wall

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and lengthWikidata (Q5054900) · CC0
The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearbyCoastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.You are here