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Category 5: Adventurous

Landscape

Whether it’s climbing, caving, hiking, diving, or just the logistics of travelling to beautiful and remote places, these sites all present a particularly adventurous challenge!

(Visiting some of these sites requires specialist skills – please take care, and seek expert advice where appropriate.)

Click on the links below to find out about each Geosite:

Porth yr Ogof

Porth yr Ogof Caves

Brecon Beacons, Wales

Porth yr Ogof is a cave located in the Brecon Beacons National Park. Its name means ‘the mouth of the cave’ in Welsh owing to the size or the entrance. It is situated in a narrow band of carboniferous limestone.


Gaping Gill

Gaping Gill

Yorkshire Dales, England

A natural cave in North Yorkshire, Gaping Gill is a 98 metre deep pothole. Fell Beck stream flows into it, eventually resurging adjacent to Ingleborough Cave.

""Spectacular Scenery

Staffa

Staffa

Inner Hebrides, Scotland

The island of Staffa is entirely of volcanic origin, consisting of a basement of tuff, underneath colonnades of a black fine-grained Tertiary basalt, overlying which is a third layer of basaltic lava.

""The People’s Choice

Black Cuillin

The Cuillin

Isle of Skye, Inner Hebrides, Scotland

The Cuillin are a rocky mountain range on the Isle of Skye. They are mainly composed of gabbro, a rough black igneous rock popular with climbers for its good grip.

""Spectacular Scenery

Snowdon

Snowdon / Y Wyddfa

Snowdonia/Eryri, Wales

Wales’ highest mountain has been shaped by glaciation, and is popular with geologists and climbers alike. The mountain was used by Edmund Hillary in training for his 1953 ascent of Everest.


Mixon Hole

Mixon Hole Deep Water Gully

English Channel off Selsey Bill, West Sussex, England

Thought to be a river bed from Biblical times, Mixon Hole forms a 30 m deep underwater gully which was use by the Romans to transport goods.


Uyea

Uyea

Unst, Shetland Isles, Scotland

An uninhabited tidal island, Uyea can be reached on foot from the Northmavine peninsular at low tide. Its rocky coast features several natural arches.

""Spectacular Scenery

St Kilda

St Kilda

Outer Hebrides, Scotland

St Kilda is an isolated archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean. The islands are composed of Tertiary igneous formations of granites and gabbro which have been heavily weathered by the elements.


Hoy

Old Man of Hoy and St John’s Head

Hoy, Orkney, Scotland

The impressive and famous Old Man of Hoy is a well known sea stack on Orkney formed from sandstone and the sea cliffs at nearby St John’s Head are some of the highest in the UK.


The Needles

The Needles

Isle of Wight, English Channel

Popular with climbers and probably the most well known and visited spectacle on the Isle of Wight Island. On clear days you can see Old Harry Rocks in Dorset, which shows quite clearly how the Island was once linked with Dorset.

100 Great Geosites

HIGHLIGHTS

"" The People’s Choice
Winners of the Public Vote

""     Unsung Heroes    
Exceptional Local Geology

"" Spectacular Scenery
Stunning photo stops!

""         Geotourism        
Great for Visitors