Trip Descriptions
Useful trip ideas for visiting cavers
Overview
The aim of this page is to link together the information provided elsewhere on this website into trip descriptions for visiting cavers. I've provided route descriptions, tackle requirements and approximate trip times for each.
The old Portland favourite. Abseil off the top of Blacknor Point, swing into the cave, complete the round trip returning to the entrance and abseil to the path 20 m below. There are no real difficulties with this trip; a moderately bold step, some crawling and a slightly exposed traverse (which can be avoided). An excursion into the rifts to find some formations or detour to Brownsea Island and back easily extends this to a good length trip.
Tackle:
Entrance: 45 m rope (2 x 40 m ropes makes life easier, though not essential).
Approx. Trip Time:
1 hours 30 (excluding detours and entry related faffing).
Route:
A description of the entry / exit abseil can be found on the main Ariel Cave page.
A description of the round trip can be found here.
A committing entrance rift, a lot of crawling and a surprisingly large rift mid-way. You'll need your knee pads!
Tackle:
Sharbutt's entrance pitch: 20 m rope (best to retrieve afterward as you'll walk past the cave heading back to the car than take a 40 m rope to pull through).
Sandy Hole entrance: 10 m rope (for pull through)
Approx. Trip Time:
2 hours
Route:
From the bottom of the 16 m entrance pitch, head left (north) and down through a narrow section to find Gold & Silver Passage (the obvious phreatic tunnel). Head left again (north) following the boulder floored phreatic. A couple of oxbows are encountered on route; the advice is to always take the 'most friendly' looking option. After about 20 min crawling a route doubling back right handed is found whilst the way ahead trends slightly left and becomes a climb up through a scaffolded rift. The continuation of the round trip is the route back to the right, however a reasonable detour and relief from the crawling is to continue up through the rift to find a chamber. The rift can be followed beyond the chamber through a narrow section to where the rift opens out above. At what appears to be the end, a dug hole in the floor leads to a much wider section below, which is followed past a few formation to a tall section of rift ending after approx. 25 m. Return back to the junction at the end of Gold & Silver Passage and take what is now the passage off to the left, Argonaut Passage. This is smaller than Gold and Silver and requires some flat out crawling. You'll eventually arrive at a larger area, Worlds End Chamber. A route to the right just before Worlds End is a link back to Gold & Silver Passage near the base of Sharbutt's Rift and left is a dead-end. Straight ahead the passage, Pauls Progress, enlarges in size and leads to a junction with the larger still Ammonite passage. Turn right and then take the strongly drafting roof level passage after approx. 10 m. Flat out crawling, passing a couple of constrictions, leads to Sandy Hole entrance. The entrance is 4 m above the path which requires either a 10 m rope for pull through, a short section of ladder or a bold, slightly overhanging down climb to reach.
Enjoyable & varied trip showcasing a bit of everything Portland has to offer culminating with a superb abseil out of Ariel main entrance.
Tackle:
Persil pitch: 10 m ladder & life line
Ariel entrance: 40 m rope (for pull through)
Approx. Trip Time:
2 hours
Route:
Follow the description for Persil Rift to emerge into The Grand Canyon in Ariel Cave. Pick up the description for the Ariel Cave round trip from here.
Best described as relentless caving, however this has been the Portland 'classic' for many years. The trip starts with 45 min of crawling, a wallow in mud, the traverse of a narrow and technical rift, followed by a lot more crawling to arrive at Ariel entrance, 20 m up a shear cliff face. The traverse of Squeezy Rift, necessary to complete this trip, must not be underestimated. It is both tight making it unsuitable for larger cavers and strenuous for those who do fit.
Tackle:
Sandy entrance: 5 m ladder & life line
Ariel entrance: 40 m rope (for pull through)
Approx. Trip Time:
3 hours 30
Route:
Either good climbing ability or some creativities with a sling and ladder should get you into the entrance of Sandy Hole. Follow the flat out crawl to a junction and turn left into Gold and Silver Passage. Follow the larger phreatic beneath Sharbutt's rift, passing a couple of oxbows until a flat out crawl to the left leads to a climb up through a shored rift. A rift chamber is found which provides a sensible place to rest for a few minutes. As you enter the rift chamber a 2m climb up through a choice of two holes on the left lead into a parallel rift. A hole in the floor then leads down into the muddy Vortex passage. Follow the obvious route through the mud, up a 1.5 m climb, down a slope and then squeeze up through an awkward slot. A few metres ahead is Vortex Chamber containing an impressive stalactite and boss at the base of Squeezy Rift. The rift is entered by climbing up approx. 2 m above the floor and posting yourself through the widest bit of the flowstone constriction. Continue ahead and upwards traversing as necessary when there is no floor to follow. Having passed a second constriction at a stal boss, drop down 2 metres and again traverse over a floorless section to emerge into the Southern end of Ariel tunnel. Follow straight ahead for several hundred metres, mostly on you hands and knees. When you arrive at an extremely dodgy choke, pass between the death blocks and find the way on along a 'drain pipe' found up and to the right. After 10 m the drain pipe ends at a junction. Take the route straight ahead through an obvious hole. Follow the water worn passage until a wide rift is met. Step across the rift to find the continuation of the tunnel. This soon becomes a flat out crawl to another junction, Piccadilly Circus. Straight ahead again is the final flat out crawl to the entrance. Some may prefer to don harnesses in Piccadilly Circus rather than led down in Pigeon poo at the entrance. To exit you'll need a 45 m rope to rig a pull through. The bolts can be found up and to the left of the entrance (looking out). A sling or short rigging rope anchored to a bolt 2m inside the cave can be used to protect the rigger.
A new trip which only became possible in 2023. The route passes within a few metres of the entrances to Hopeless Hole and Ariel Cave and so offers some shorter options as well. Steve's Endeavour to Hopeless Hole, being the first part of the route described here is an excellent sporting trip in it's own right which became possible in 2018. The caving consists of a good mixture of clambering around in rifts and crawling in water worn tunnels.
Tackle:
Persil pitch: 10 m ladder & life line
Ariel entrance: 40 m rope (for pull through if exiting here)
Steve's Endeavour, various climbs: 15 m lifeline.
Approx. Trip Times:
Steve's Endeavour South to Hopeless Hole: 1 hour 30
Steve's Endeavour South to Ariel Cave: 2 hours 15
Steve's Endeavour South to Persil Rift: 3 hours.
Route:
The Persil Rift pitch 10 m in from the entrance must be pre-rigged before commencing this trip (10 m ladder and 20 m life line).
Follow the description for the Steve's Endeavour to Hopeless Hole through trip until you emerge into Hopeless Hole at a wooden pillar. Obviously the trip can be cut short at this point by exiting Hopeless Hole. To continue, instead of heading right to daylight, take the crawl to the left and follow this for 35 m to a rift. Head up and to the left, through a hole into the main section of rift and then up and to the right travelling over a loose false floor directly above the end of the tunnel. After 5 m take the enlarged rift to the left. This soon opens out in C&A rift in Ariel Cave. Follow the tall rift at floor level until a flowstone bank blocks the way ahead for all but the smallest cavers. Climb up 4 m to find the way over the top and the descend back to floor level again. Once again follow the rift which gradually gets wider to an obvious 4 m climb up a chimney on your right. The top opens out into rift chamber, Piccadilly Circus. To the left is the flat out crawl to Ariel Cave main entrance. If exiting here, a 40 m rope, harnesses & descenders are required for a pull through. To continue the trip to Persil Rift turn right along a flat out crawl as far as The Grand Canyon, an obvious bold step across a rift. Instead of taking the bold step, climb down into the rift and head left. Ascend a flowstone bank. At the top a choice is required, either traverse ahead long a generous ledge on the left hand wall, or follow the floor and then climb up 5 m to reach the same point. There is often a rope in place to aid the climb. At the top of the rope / end of the traverse pass beneath a huge wedged boulder and then ascend another 2 m to find the connection to Persil Rift. Follow straight ahead, over a hole and then down a vertical squeeze to find the floor approx. 2 m below. Climb up boulders to find a large rift chamber, The Washing Machine. At the far end climb up 4 m (typically a rope in place) and follow the muddied route through the heavily flowstoned section to an awkward wriggle up through a dug muddy hole. A filthy 5 m crawl brings you back into the tall rift. Descend to a squeeze at floor level and continue through a tight section. Just beyond this, climb up 4 m using small ledges to find the end of the ladder you rigged earlier upon a pile of wedged rocks. From the top of the ladder the final 10 m to the entrance is obvious.
Allotment Dig to Grove Cliff Fissure followed by Rumble Chasm to Guano Rift
Two through trips which travels most of the cave with very little being repeated.
Tackle:
Grove Cliff Fissure entrance: 20 m rope for abseil pull-through (two bolts).
Rumble Chasm entrance: 20 m rope (the same rope used to exit Grove Cliff Fissure can be used to life-line less experienced climbers).
Approx. Trip Time:
3 hours
Route:
The descriptions on the Grove Cliff Caves pages give a greater level of detail not repeated here.
The route highlighted in yellow is followed first using the blue to return.
Enter the cave at Allotment Dig. At the end of the phreatic continue straight ahead along Link Rift to a junction with Guano Rift off to the left. Go straight ahead and follow around to the left at Letterbox bypass until the next junction, Concrete Corner is found. Once again continue straight ahead along link rift into the much wider Tibet. Turn left and follow until an obvious junction is found. Take the lower route to the right into Grove Cliff Fissure. At the next junction turn left. Following a climb up and through a tight section ascend 3m directly upwards to find a false floor, traverse ahead (avoiding the holes) until a solid floor is found. The entrance is soon reached beyond this. The entrance should not be considered free climbable and a 20 m rope used for an abseil pull-through from 2 bolts.
Having reached the path below the entrance (can be overgrown in the summer) head 10 m south around a man-made block column stretching the height of the cliff. On the far side the entrance can be seen 10 m above. The climb is fairly straight forward but loose and vegetated and so extreme caution must be applied if free climbing this. Once the first person is up a rope can be rigged to 2 bolts to provide a belay or handline for the rest of the group. Once inside the entrance follow until a man-made wall is found. Climb above this, crawl over the paving slabs and descend on the far side to re-find the rift floor. Follow the rift passing beneath an extremely dodgy choke until it appears to end. At this point climb up approx. 5 m and ascend a loose slope to find a junction. Turn right along the enlarge passage. At a head height wedged boulder climb up 4 m to find a narrow ledge traverse to wedge blocks. Descend over 3 wedged (but mobile) boulders to floor level. A junction is soon reached - you are back in Grove Cliff Fissure. Continue straight ahead, past the route out to Skittle Alley entrance and take the next turning on the right. This is not so obvious as the route is blocked low down and therefore either an ascending upwards wriggle to find the way ahead or climb directly up 4 m in Skittle Alley Rift to find the obvious high level option. A 4 m drop soon lands you in Flagpole Rift. Daylight can be seen to the right. Continue straight ahead and then left at the next junction, Ammonite Corner. Follow to Concrete Corner and turn right retracing your route to the letterbox bypass. At the junction with Guano Rift turn right and follow to a climb up into a good sized rift chamber. Descend the obvious slope ahead to find daylight.
A short natural cave, Nookey Hole, provides access into the top of a Victorian well shaft that can be descended and then exited via a mined tunnel at its base. This is the largest underground pitch on Portland and despite being artificial it is both interesting and entertaining. It's best to hard rig the pitch and collect the rope afterwards. A competent group of 3 or 4 should be able to enter Nookey Hole, rig, descend, exit and find their way back to the entrance to collect the rope within an hour and so this is best suited to a quick evening trip.
Tackle:
35 m rope.
Approx. Trip Time:
1 hour
Route:
Very little description is required; enter Nookey Hole, descend the well shaft (35 m rope, 5 karabiners) and walk out Red Door Tunnel at the bottom. The boulder hop along the beach (particularly in the dark) and scramble back up the cliff afterwards only adds to the experience.
Two short caves whose entrances are only around 20 m apart and so can easily be explored one after the other. Both are fine examples of rift caves with Windy Dig being well decorated and Seagull showing excellent chert banding. Despite their short length both caves are relatively sporting and certainly worthy of a visit. An ideal half-day or evening trip.
Tackle:
6 m ladder & life line for Windy Dig.
10 m handline & sling for climb in Seagull Cave.
Approx. Trip Time:
2 hours
Route:
The location and description for both caves are given on their respective pages and so there's little point in replicating here: