Cheddar Gorge & Gough's Cave

This has been one of my favourite Furiendly Finds to date. There is something about caves that I just find beautiful and this places tops it off with gorgeous scenic views too. 

I am biased as I love caves but even so, it was certainly interesting to my Labrador. His nose was straight to the ground and he was tracking the entire way around. I think It is fantastic that your pup is able to join you whilst exploring the caves that early man once lived in.

Learn from my mistakes and take the audio guide that you are offered. I regretted not accepting mine; I'd been too worried I'd need my hand for controlling Arlo but he was so interested in the smells that he caused no mayhem. There are some steps and the footing can be slippy so decent footwear is advised.

They actually store cheese deep inside the cave. I am a fan of cheese so this really is the place for me. You even get a sample as you go through. It was at this point I clicked "Cheddar" Gorge.

I personally think children would enjoy the adventure but I suppose we all enjoy different things and indoorsy type children may not have as much fun as I did. They have games to get little ones involved and there was an Easter egg hunt on when we visited. 

As for the Gorge, this really is a stupendous walk. I use 'walk' as a loose term as it is very steep and rocky in places. You will need decent footwear and please avoid going in bad weather. We visited in a major down pour and it was so slippy and quite dangerous on the rocks. The enjoyment was lost as I was trying not to fall and break a bone. This was bad planning on my part! I then slipped and rolled down the hill like Mr Blobby (I also had a pink jacket on). Thankfully with all the extra layers I was unhurt but please be careful and learn from my silly mistake. Regardless of the terrible weather, the views were magnificent. It isn't an easy walk and I personally would say it was an intermediate on the difficulty scale. To get to the start alone you have to walk up a tonne of steps. There really are a lot of stairs so you need a good level of fitness before you even begin.

You won't find bins on the walk itself so I was glad for my dicky bag. I could then dispose of any waste at the bottom of the Gorge. It is also worth noting that there are livestock wandering around so dogs do need to be on a lead.

There is parking on site and toilets available. There are also little cafes dotted about and a few shops.

We had a really good day and I look forward to another visit where I can enjoy the walk in better weather.

Have you ever taken your dog to a cave? Up next for us is Mother Shipton's caves near York!