About The Peak District

The Peak District National Park was founded in 1950 in an effort to preserve its outstanding natural beauty for everyone by creating an authority to govern all activities within its boundaries.

It lies in the centre of Britain at the southern end of the Pennines. The majority of the park lies within Derbyshire, but to the northeast part of it lies within West Yorkshire, the southwest in Staffordshire and above that parts are in Cheshire.

Surrounded on all sides by many major urban areas such as Sheffield, Manchester and Derby, it is accessed by large numbers of visitors annually for a multitude of reasons and so the pressures on this landscape are intense, hence the Park’s unending mission to protect and preserve the area for everyone to enjoy.

The Peak District offers something for all ages, from scenic leisure drives and sight-seeing, to serious climbing and hillwalking, stately homes, such as Chatsworth House to sport fishing and geology. It is also home to some of the most picturesque villages in the country.

Geologically, the area is dominated by the central limestone plateau, surrounded on three sides by high moorlands built on erosion-resistant Millstone Grit. The whole area offers a wide variety of flora and fauna to study and enjoy.

In prehistoric times the limestone plateau, with its fine fertile soil, would have been very attractive to early neolithic settlers. Intensive agricultural activity since then though, has most likely destroyed all such evidence. To the east, on the high moors, the survival of prehistoric settlement is exceptional, mostly because of the climate changes and subsequent soil deterioration in the late Bronze Age leading to a dramatic decrease in occupation and agricultural activity, which led to a high number of monuments surviving to this day.

To the north of the central plateau the moorlands are much higher and would have always been difficult to occupy, so the prehistoric remains are rare.

All visitors to the area are asked to respect the park and its fellow users. Please adhere to the Countryside Code at all times. A simple rule to follow is ‘take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints’. That way we all can ensure that this area of outstanding beauty will be there for generations to enjoy.

For up to date information on the Peak District, visit: peakdistrict.org

An overview map of The Peak District National Park, showing its borders, major routes, towns and villages. Inset is the relative position of the park in relation to Great Britain.