Gaping Gill is situated on the lower slopes of Ingleborough Hill in the Yorkshire Dales and can only be reached on foot.

The best starting point is the village of Clapham. By car, Clapham is within easy reach of many popular Yorkshire Dales and Lake District holiday locations. The village is just off the A65, between Settle and Ingleton.

Clapham railway station is a short walk from the village, and has services from Leeds, Bradford, Skipton, Carnforth and Lancaster. Local bus services provide links with Skipton, Settle, Ingleton and Lancaster.

Cars can be left in the National Park car park in the centre of the village. From the car park, take the lane following the stream up through the village to the start of the Nature Trail (Ingleborough Estate makes a small admission charge) through the Estate.

As you follow the footpath through the estate and head for the summit of Ingleborough, you will pass some of caving's famous sites. The source of the village's stream soon comes into view, emerging from the low arch of the aptly named Clapham Beck Head. To the left, under an imposing limestone arch is the entrance to Ingleborough Cave. These join and form the lowest accessible sections of the Gaping Gill Ingleborough Cave System. This marks the beginning (or more accurately) the end of an extensive system of passages and caverns extending under Ingleborough.

To see more climb upwards through the ravine of Trow Gill. Here, water flows silently beneath you as Gaping Gill becomes Ingleborough Cave and passes under the scars of Clapham Bottoms (right).

On reaching the fell wall, the obvious rocky hole on your left with a fringe of small trees, is Bar Pot, one of the dry upper entrances of the system often used by cavers. Soon you come to the large shake hole where Fell Beck, a mature stream in a shallow blind valley, abruptly plunges 340 feet to form Britains highest and most spectacular waterfall at Gaping Gill, before beginning its long underground journey to Ingleborough Cave.