The Peak District
The UK's original national park
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Welcome to The Peak District
The insider's travel guide to The Peak DistrictThe Peak District is the UK's first national park, established in 1951 to carve out a protected space between the encroaching industrial cities of the midlands and northern England.
The national park and the UK's 'right to roam' freedoms owe their existence to the struggles of ordinary working people who, in the 1932 Kinder Trespass, forced private landowners to grant public access to the nation's beautiful but previously restricted countryside.
Divided by a geological fault line between the gritstone 'Dark Peak' and the limestone 'White Peak', the landscape switches from open, even severe-looking, moorland to the north and secluded dales and quaint farming villages to the south.
Its proximity to motorways and several major cities means the Peak District gets busy in places, particularly around pleasant but popular honeytraps such as Dovedale, Castleton and Matlock. But with nearly 2,000 miles of public footpaths and rights of way, it's still very easy to find yourself alone and enjoying empty trails and wide open views. The Dark Peak is generally quieter, as is the far south on the border with Staffordshire.
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Distance: 48 milesDuration: Four to eight days depending on your paceDifficulty: Easy to moderate The southern half of the Peak District, called the white peak for its limestone geology, is the gentler and more 'traditionally' picturesque stretch of the national park. You'll find no brooding crags and desolate moors here, it's more about gentle dales, meandering brooks and quant – sometimes twee – villages. That's not to say the scenery isn't impressive; around Monyash and Lathkill Dale it's often breathtaking. The Limestone Way weaves through the white peak, skirting historical Illam, crossing famous (and busy) Dovedale, before meandering north towards Matlock and, eventually, Castleton on the border of the much sterner dark peak. Broken up into eight casually-paced days this is a gloriously gentle walk through some of the most easy-going but immensely rewarding countryside in the UK.
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Best for: shorter or centre-based walking holidays The Peak District was the UK's first national park, established in 1951 to carve out a protected space between the encroaching industrial cities of the midlands and northern England. The national park and the UK's 'right to roam' laws owe their existence to the struggles of ordinary working people who, in the 1932 Kinder Trespass, forced private landowners to grant public access to the nation's beautiful but previously restricted countryside. Divided by a geological fault line between the gritstone 'Dark Peak' and the limestone 'White Peak', the landscape switches from open, even severe-looking, moorland to the north and secluded dales and quaint farming villages to the south. Its proximity to motorways and several major cities means the Peak District gets busy in places, particularly around pleasant but popular honeytraps such as Dovedale, Castleton and Matlock. But with nearly 2,000 miles of public footpaths and rights of way, it's still very easy to find yourself alone and enjoying empty trails and wide open views. The northern Dark Peak is generally quieter, as is the far south on the border with Staffordshire. Aside from the Pennine Way, which starts in Edale, there are no major long-distance walks here. It's more a place for a short walking break, perhaps based in one of the ten magnificent YHAs to be found in the Peaks.
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Limestone Way
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The Peak District
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