Schools and Colleges at Treak Cliff Cavern
Treak Cliff Cavern is an excellent educational resource currently used by hundreds of teachers to deliver many aspects of the geography curriculum, across all Key Stages. We are centrally located within the Peak District National Park at Castleton, Derbyshire, easy to get to and easy to find. Free and plentiful parking for cars and coaches. Ideally located to include on walking routes with the famous landmarks of the Mam Tor Ridge and Winnats Pass close by.
Water-worn Chambers
The caves provide an amazing hands-on experience; amazing to younger children, intriguing to older students.
Inspiring Landscape
The landscape itself offers plenty to study.
Fossils
Fossils can seen in the ceilings throughout the caves.
An outstanding curriculum resource
We have some of the finest stalactites and stalagmites in the Peak District with wonderful water worn chambers, ideal for studying the water cycle, limestone and other materials, etc.
Our deposits of Blue John Stone are unrivalled, combined with many other minerals and fossils that children can see and touch. Our rural location also offers opportunities to study contrasting landscapes at the same time.
Stalactites
The stalactites have taken thousands of years to form
Visitor Centre
The visitor centre.
Museum
The new museum features a range of geological, archaeological artefacts and Blue crafts.
Sensory Displays
Displays allow visitors to get close to fossils and sections of stalactites.
Facilities
The Visitor Centre has recently been redeveloped and we now have a Museum which explains the evolution of Treak Cliff and features geological samples and rare items of Blue John crafts.
It also includes a gift shop, a museum, plus displays enabling children to see sections of fossils and stalactites.
We are open all year round, and can tailor your guided tour to meet specific educational requirements. Our general tours have become Self Guided Audio Tours using visitors own smartphones, but we appreciate schools prefer to have a person to tell them about the cavern, in the traditional way we have done for the previous 75 years! If you would prefer the self guided option please let us know!
Stone Polishing Activity
Students have the opportunity to work with our craftspeople to create their very own piece of polished Blue John stone to take home with them.
Gift Shop
The gift shop includes a range of pocket-money items and everything is related to Treak Cavern itself or geology in general.
Free initial visit and consultation
We are keen for you to get the most from a visit to Treak Cliff Cavern and we fully appreciate the planning that’s involved with organising a school trip.
To that end, teachers can visit the cavern free of charge and meet with the Cavern Manager prior to their school visit for planning purposes. Please telephone us on 01433 620571 for more information and to organise a tour and meeting.
Our admissions charges for schools are listed below to find the price for your visit to Treak Cliff Cavern.
If you have a date in mind, please telephone us on 01433 620571 we don’t currently take bookings for schools online because we would rather talk to you.
You can also download PDF copies of our Risk Assessment, & Public and Company Liability forms for Treak Cliff Cavern in the document downloads section below.
3D Model
A fascinating 3D model of the cavern reveals the passages in context of the hills.
Detail of the model.
School admission prices for 2023
Primary — £6.50 / child
Secondary — £7.00 / child
Sixth Form — £7.25 / student
University — £11.00 / student
1 free teacher / helper admission with every 10 students
additional adults £5.00 each
Please contact us for more information.
School admission prices for 2024
Primary — £6.75 / child
Secondary — £7.25 / child
Sixth Form — £7.50 / student
University — £11.50 / student
Blue John Stone polishing Activity — £5.00 per stone
1 free teacher / helper admission with every 10 students
additional adults £5.00 each
Please contact us for more information.
Opening Times
March 1st to October 31st, we open at 9.30am, the last tour is at 4.00pm.
November 1st to February 28th, we open at 9.30am, the last tour is at 3.00pm.
Documents
Teaching Resources
Notes for teachers: useful and educational information which also forms the basis for the quiz below.
Click here to download the Notes for Teachers (28KB)
External Providers Form (OV2)
For those who require a completed OV2 form for Treak Cliff, you can download a PDF version below and print a copy. You will need to fill in the Establishment, Staff Member in Charge and Date of Visit at the start of the form and date it at the very end.
Click here to download a PDF copy of the OV2 form.
Risk Assessment
Includes detailed information about the cavern including access.
Click here to download a PDF copy of the Risk Assessment
Privacy Policy
What we do with any information you provide, online security etc. GDPR compliant.
Click here to download the Privacy Policy (68KB)
Excess Liability Insurance Certificate
Information about our public and products insurance cover (updated 2023).
Click here to download the Excess Liability Insurance Certificate
Click here to download the Excess Liability Insurance 2023/24
The new Treak Cliff Cavern Interpretation Centre is part-funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development - to upgrade the visitor offer, by providing new toilets, heritage and interpretation centre. Project reference number: 101006.
