Flood Entrance Pot

The entrance to this pothole swallows a stream whole, which is rather the point. Flood Entrance Pot sits in the limestone country around Settle, where water simply vanishes into the ground and reappears elsewhere - a properly dramatic bit of Yorkshire geology that costs nothing to gawp at.

You're looking at a genuine cave entrance where a beck runs straight into the rock face and disappears underground. It's not a vast show cave with electric lights and gift shops; this is the real thing, raw and unmanicured. The water thunders into the darkness, and if you've got any sense of adventure, you'll want to know where it goes. Serious cavers do go further - this is an active potholing site - but the entrance itself is accessible to anyone who fancies a look.

For casual visitors and families, it's a brilliant ten-minute diversion. Kids usually find it properly thrilling, though it's not the sort of place to spend hours. The surrounding landscape - dry valleys, limestone pavements, moorland - makes this part of the Dales worth exploring properly. Base yourself at one of the nearby campsites like Orcaber Farm or The Dalesbridge, both within three miles, and you've got access to some outstanding walking country.

Go when it hasn't rained for a few days if you want to see into the darkness; after heavy rain it's just spray and thunder. Summer's fine, but autumn when the light's lower and the water's cold is somehow more atmospheric. Free, no restrictions, no messing about - just geology doing what it does.