Worlds Most Dangerous River, The STRID 

The thought of being sucked into a cave never to be seen again gives me chills. My condolences to those who've been deceived

I'm watching from far away on the other side of the globe and I'm already freaked out.

It amazes me that nobody has made a 3D underwater mapping of the Strid... Would make a cool National Geographic special... Can't it be sonar mapped then made into a 3D model?

The fact that the river is running UNDER the rocky banks is CHILLING!

5:57 “The gorge is over 9m deep here, more than 2 double decker buses on top of each other” That is basically the British equivalent of Americans using football fields for measurement.

That water is deadly smedly , fish have been known to drown there ..

I watch this right after 'Very Deep Water' vid. The guy with the stick.

I like this guys voice as a story teller.

I'm honestly just wondering how many bodies are hanging under those rocks you are standing on. It's an interesting video, I searched for one who explained it like you did.

That Thing creeps me out hard :/ i get a really bad feeling just watching this

2:32 you can see the water didn't flow one direction but kinda spin around, indicating that it's a whrilpool underwater.

When i was a Boy i was swimming in a lake on a mediterrane mountain island, minding my own business. One time i saw Bubbles coming Up, adventorous as i was i stuck my head down Just to realize they we're from scuba divers at least 20 m below me, exiting a cave... Ever since i grown cautious. Hated deep water. Sometimes.you think its 10 m but its actually thrice

Even though it may be impossible or destroy the enviornment, just hypothetically id love to see a dam upstream so it dries out so you could see the caves and structures, shouldnt be done as said, but very interesting thought

Hi, the honeymoon couple did end up in the strid, they were found down stream at addingham a month later. I was a paramedic and a member of the fell rescue that searched for them on that day. Historically the boy egremont was swept away in 1154 as he tried to jump it whilst hunting. When the river is in flood it’s a very different and dangerous beast that’s quite unnerving to be next to. Nice video and isn’t it a beautiful part of the uk?

At first I was like “how is this thing possibly dangerous? This man clearly hasn’t seen the Congo” and then I watched some more and my heart dropped when he said that most of the water was beneath the rocks he was standing on!

I'll have to take the mother-in-law there soon.

Some of the people from years ago are probably still down there pinned to the back wall of a cave somewhere..

Mate you have convinced me. Even the name Strid just doesn't seem right...there should be a fence around that thing and there's a tiny warning sign.. bloody hell... It should be the size of a billboard.

I was a nervous wreck watching this. You got entirely too close to that water!

I've seen some teenagers jumping across back in the day they bloody darn well gave me a heart attack

1:19 that whirlpool literally said "jump in to die"... scary

Damn, that's a scary river. One of my biggest fears is getting sucked down underwater.

Wonder what the early people of Britain made of this place, they would’ve imagined some kind of creature living in the water

My great aunt, (who passed in 2007), often told us lads the tale of when HER aunt fell into the strid, to teach us that not all is as it seems, and that EVERYTHING poses a threat no matter how small, (or in this case large) it may be. She and her family were there on holiday from Kent, and her aunt had a butterfly net trying to catch monarchs or something, and must have stepped the wrong way. It happened SO fast she didn't even have time to scream. All they heard was a sharp gasp behind them followed by a splash. When they turned and looked all they seen was the little wooden net quickly floating through the "Narrows," and her father simply stated: "That's that." If this sounds like a cold response, that's because it IS. The reason for this is, it occurred back in the mid to late teens around the end of WW1, and people were USED to heartbreak, and death was much more common. Or to quote my dear old aunt: "When men were made of iron, and ships were made of wood." Tough breed.💪💪

6:12 We must respect the brave man then went down to show how deep it was.

Such a beautiful place and yet so deceiving. It does make one wonder what treasures may lay in the depths. I am surprised there are not more precautions taken to keep people safe. Thank you for sharing this very interesting place. 🙂👍🏻👍🏻

Plot twist: This is found footage. The camera was recovered 200 metres downstream.

I jumped across as a teenager. Would not want my kids to do it!

Great video. Thank you! Man, that is scary how the banks are undercut like that. It does look very deceptive.

Well, I now have a new thing to throw at parties in my D&D campaigns.

I’m from the Appalachian mountains and this is absolutely the kind of river I wouldn’t have had a second thought about getting it. Scary to think about

2:43 The backwards flowing current in that one spot is probably the killer.

Been there years ago when I went to visit Bolton abbey, learned the story about the fast cavernous water underneath, heard of people going in and disappearing. Excellent presentation, thanks Salford uk

Needless to say, the only reason they've illustrated a diver in that gorge is because a drowning person wouldn't be appropriate!

I’m Johnny Knoxville, and welcome to Jackass

idk man im a pretty good swimmer. I can hold my breath for 11 seconds, and even 12.2

there's a river like this where i used to live in Australia called Babinda boulders. there's an ancient indigenous legend that a womens ghost drowns men, and men have only drowned there like the legend says. it's because of the giant boulders that pull you under.

Everybody goes on about how the shape of the gorge in the Strid makes it dangerous and they usually miss the 2nd aspect of its dangerousness. If there's heavy rain up the dale, the river can rise quite quickly and overtop the stone banks to either side of the Strid. The shape of the banks means it's fairly easy to get stranded in places as the water level rises and you end up getting swept away. Back in the 80s/90s, there were no warning signs around the Strid and somebody drowned in it every couple of years. The bodies usually turned up around Otley.

I really wish that some one stops the river and pump the water out so it is dry and no water Would like to see how the cave looks like and whats under

I used to go to school near here and have visited it (and nearby Bolton Abbey) many times. It is a delightful place to spend time BUT, very deceptive. One interesting thing I have noticed is if you sit down on the rocks in certain places, you can actually feel the ground trembling slightly, which is a testament to the powerful water currents flowing unseen beneath the overhanging rock faces. What looks like a fairly shallow stream is in fact 20-30 feet deep and the water velocity is very high. Furthermore, the moss makes the rocky edges very slippery! I have no doubt many people have been deceived by its shallow and narrow appearance and tried to jump it, or venture too close to the water, only to slip in and lose their life. Sometimes when the water level gets unusually low, you can begin to see the complex rock formations and whirlpools that lurk a few feet beneeth the surface. It IS a beautiful and hypnotic place but, extreme care must be taken at all times!

Why don't they put a fence up there or something?

My father experienced something similar when he was living in New Zealand where he was sucked under and pushed into a subterranean cave and the way he survived was the top of the cave was higher than the water level and he had an air pocket to breath, until rescuers eventually were able to locate him and pull him out later. Got to respect nature and the unknown.

i screamed when he put the camera right over

My intrusive thoughts would tell me to jump in

Imagine being drunk or high and stumbling here.... wouldn’t be a fun story to tell if one at all

This is what pretty much every stream in Appalachia looks like

Greetings from Minnesota! My family came from Preston, England in 1699!! I hope to one day visit!

Just heard about this ! Thank You for giving us a visual of what this river looks like. Very scary !!

Waw that's a crazy river Dan I've swam in many rivers up here in Scotland many looking similar , it just goes to show you the unseen forces of nature to watch out for

How do they know it's 9m deep? I read that whenever scientists have put equipment in to measure the depth and/or current, it is so strong that it has always ripped the equipment away! Interesting stuff! Would love to visit, but I would not want to go anywhere near the edge - one simple slip and that's it.

I do a lot of kayaking and been on some pretty dangerous waters. After you study water dynamics a little and you learn to recognize things that you should steer clear of, such as low head dams... I have to say that a couple of sections of The Strid clearly look as areas you should never enter... particularly that boiling pit... it looks absolutely terrifying, like a guaranteed trip to the afterlife.

It seems that posting signs along the river, warning of the danger would be important. Unless you are already aware of the danger, how would you know about the caves? It is kind of like the rivers and lakes in Florida, where there are alligators and no signs.

It would be very interesting to see a section (drawing) through the system showing average depths, dimensions and slopes. Also throwing in a test dummy and following with sensors/GPS tracking travel.

This video may have saved some lives. I hope everyone in that location sees this

Well somebody has been watching Tom Scotts videos, haven't they?

Looks like a lovely tubing spot, but knowledge is everything. I’ve never seen a river structured like that. Amazing.

I can not stop listening to this guy talk. It wouldn't even matter what he spoke about.

Man that's humbling 😎 STRID happens to be my last name , thanxs bro if it wasn't for you I would never have known 👍

Bloody hell.... I was 13 when we walked from Appletreewick to Bolton Abbey. We went along the Strid and no-one told us, warned us, nothing expect it was a famous set of rapids. I remember being very disappointed, not at all impressed and a bit shocked at how small it all seemed. So thanks for the story and reminding me what an ignorant peasant I was as a kid.

Bloody hell! I do alot of ferreting up these parts of yhe yorky dales ive jumped over parts of the wharfe at bolton abbey. Never knew about Mr.Strid tho! Ooooh bloody hell i wnt do that again!

Local gangsters are taking notes

I’ve been there, and I can confirm it looks inviting, it’s just has something about it that makes you want to get closer to it. Such a nice park.

There should be some kind of Myth Buster-esqe experiment made with someone actually getting into the Strid. There was a similar experiment with water dams or whatever it's called, they tied a guy on saftey ropes and put on a helmet and all and let him get close to the dam, even though it looked harmless the currents just kept spinning him and they had to pull him out - was a test if he could free himself. And they also showed the effect in an animation, and then to see it in real life. Would be cool to at least have some idea of what the caves below look like and all.

Imagine being so close to death without realizing

although dangerous, definitely not the 'worlds most dangerous river'.

Someone needs to get an old GoPro and throw it in there

The word "Strid" means "Battle" in scandinavian languages. Maybe the vikings named the river after going through it in their wooden rafts.

Can you throw something in like a potato or car crash dummy would be interesting to see obviously stand well back though lol

what if u just dip one finger in

"This is one of the most dangerous rivers in England, if not the world" *approaches the edge*

"The rocks aren't the edge of the river.... They're an overhang." Perfectly expressed and perfectly explained. Thankyou.

Reminds me of a place in Far North Queensland Australia at Babinda called the Boulders,same scenario people get caught under rocks and drown.

Caves underwater in a river dangerous ! Suck you in ! Like a meat grinder ! How many Lives lost there ? Rocks very slippery ! Especially when moss covers it ! Couple people lots their Lives at rivers in Canada 🇨🇦 ! Just taking photos of themselves near edge ! Slipped into river ! Stay safe ! 🚨🌊🌊 🚨 😳

So basically this river is *much* wider and deeper underneath the overarching rocks than what is perceived and that narrow gap is only known way in....or out

Live about 10 minutes away from here in Silsden! Beautiful walk! Always remember the story of a newlywed couple attempting to jump the gorge on their wedding day and ultimately drowning...

But what makes it so dangerous? I mean sure sharp rocks and a powerful current kills a person easely but.. getting sucked in just because you place your hand in it? I can't believe that

As you opened the vid I thought what a nice little stream. I'll grab my inner tube and take a nice ride down with a brew. BUT after the dudes explanation of getting sucked into the underwater cave system.....I think I'll pass to another day........ or lifetime

Thank you for sharing this with us, Dan! This place is absolutely fascinating. I would love for some geologists, or some sort of marine scientists to send an ROV down there so we could see what it actually looks like underneath the water there.

Like a washing machine!

Is the calmer water more dangerous or the water near the waterfall?

This feels like when Tim the Wise in Monty Python warns the knights about the bunny monster.

When he said that the water was under the rocks, my stomach sank and anxiety started immediately

Not being one to think like an animal and just accept all problems as permanent an unfixable, I prefer to use my mind to see if problems can be solved. When see a problem, I become curious about the options to deal with it and the discussion of the pros and cons. Saw another vid on this topic but I haven’t yet heard a discussion about this yet. Options (off the top of my head) 1. Do nothing to preserve nature and pretty scenery. An occasional person and animal will die. As long as it’s nobody you know, that will be acceptable. 2. Put up signs everywhere. Cheap. May help some but I suspect there’ll be an occasional loss of life. Also, not great for scenery. 3. Fence off the dangerous section. Pretty cheap. Should have the same issues as #2. 4. Drill some holes in the banks and blast out the overhangs to leave a wide calm flowing river. It’d still have the natural scenery as a river. Not terribly expensive. I have no estimate on the lives that would be saved in our generation as well as saving the lives of people hundreds of years from now. No one would likely vote for this option unless you ask the mother that just lost her child because he or she slipped and fell in.

So tempting to throw a bunch of go pros in there and see what it looks like.

I live next to a river that once a year rises super high and people from all over come to kayak/raft. Well there’s this one rock/section of rapids that becomes very dangerous and sucks you under the rock formations if fallen in. Some lady who had fallen out rafting, was missing for 3 months, later to find her body when water levels lowered and such, under this rock with the whirl pool, along with 2 deer and an elk carcass. An absolutely terrifying way out

Just came across this video and your channel. Great video, and very interesting information about that river which seems so quiet and inviting. Gained a subscriber!

If I happened to come upon this place I would’ve jumped right in no hesitation…… thank you!

Thanks for the video i was looking for an informative one subbed

Spooky. I find it hard to believe that just sticking your arm in the water will suck your whole body in, though.

So no boating allowed in this area?

Try the Nimpkish on Vancouver Island

Theirs no way I’d bring a child to that location. Even if we were touring Europe.

The reason its so dangerous is because its a wolf in sheeps clothing. People KNOW the Amazon river is dangerous but people would never think this is dangerous to look at it.

I’m a new subscriber watching from Honolulu Hawaii USA

Water flows beneath the rocks? You mean that the area that the trees grown are the true riverbank? That is one medium size river actually. Falling in it surely an instant death. If the water don't kill you, the rocks will do the work

Omg a gopro on a line would be awsome

There is this place by where we live called ackermans cut, and depth finders do not work because of the depth, and there is a theory that there are cave systems underneath hundreds of feet down and that is the cause of all the super strong current. It is super freaky. We took our boat through it and it spins you in circles and has whirlpools on the surface about a foot wide it is not that long but the whole time you go through, you are holding on to something white knuckled all over. This is on the Mississippi River below lock and dam #10.

“Quite a busy river...”

Chuck Norris swims up stream in the STRID every summer just for fun.

I have heard that the Strid is really deep and is almost bottomless and then I came here. Good video and history information and examples sir!