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Lower Traligill Flood Sink

Assynt, Traligill, Sutherland.

The entrance to the cave is found amongst boulders at foot of south wall of the entrance arch to Lower Traligill Cave. Normally, part of River Traligill flows across the archway to sink here.

Diverting the flow from the entrance makes it possible to squeeze down through boulders to a short wet crawl where a scramble up over rocks reaches a low chamber with a pronounced pointed roof. Daylight can be seen through a hole on right. A flat out crawl over shingle to the left reaches a small streamway but soon becomes too narrow to follow. To the right of the stream a low oxbow leads back towards main passage. Straight ahead from entrance chamber, 12 m of hands and knees crawling leads past a squeeze, the entrance to an oxbow on the right to a pronounced left-hand bend and a rocky eyehole. This drops into a small inclined rift chamber only 40 m from Birthday Hole (often this contains a static sump). Doubling back upstream, a tight squeeze leads to a sand floored chamber where a voice connection can be made to the oxbow. To right of the entrance, a stream is heard running beyond an impossibly low passage.

Alternate Names: Traligill Flood Sink (Lower)

Notes: Warning - In high water conditions, the main sink overflows, flooding the normally dry valley below and completely submerging flood entrance rendering it impassible. This may happen rapidly.

Cave first entered by GSG in 1967, further extensions added 1973 and 1997.

Hydrographic Feeds: River Traligill

Hydrographic Resurgences: River Traligill