Speedwell Cavern

Speedwell Cavern Review

The area's most exciting cavern by far is Speedwell Cavern, where 105 slippery steps lead down to old lead-mine tunnels, blasted out by 19th-century miners. Here you transfer to a small boat for the claustrophobic ¼-mile chug through an illuminated access tunnel to the cavern itself. At this point you're 600 feet underground, in the deepest public-access cave in Britain, with views farther down to the so-called Bottomless Pit, a water-filled cavern. An on-site shop sells items made of the Blue John mineral. Speedwell Cavern is at the bottom of Winnats Pass, 1 mile west of Castleton.