The Yeo rises from a spring near Charterhouse and then disappears under the Limestone of the Mendip Hills before reappearing in Gough's Cave before emerging into Cheddar Gorge.

[2][3] From a point relatively close to the areas of the cave open to the public, the cave-divers' descent into Sump 1a begins through a tight passage known as Dire Straits.

[4][5] After emerging from the cave the river flows through Cheddar past the site of a Saxon palace,[6][7] in the grounds of The Kings of Wessex School, together with a 14th-century chapel dedicated to St.

[7][9] It then flows south under a disused railway bridge which used to carry the Cheddar Valley line and west through Rackley before joining the River Axe.

[11] In the 14th century a French ship sailed up the river and by 1388 Thomas Tanner from Wells used Rackley to export cloth and corn to Portugal, and received iron and salt in exchange.

Later slate was imported through this route and it may have still be possible to trade through Rackley until the act of 1915 authorising the drainage of the Axe and installation of the flood gate at Bleadon.

[18] The Environment Agency have rated the Cheddar Yeo as having moderate water ecological quality, but failed the chemical assessment in 2016.