The Peak District was England's first national park, designated in 1951, and it remains one of the most visited in the world — largely because it sits at the centre of a ring of major cities. Manchester, Sheffield, Derby, Nottingham, and Leicester all lie within an hour of the park boundary, which makes it the primary green escape for millions of people and, on summer weekends, notably crowded in the popular spots.
The park divides into two distinct landscapes. The Dark Peak in the north and east is upland moorland — blanket bog, gritstone edges, and the high plateau of Kinder Scout, where trespassers asserted their right to roam in the famous 1932 mass trespass. The White Peak in the south is limestone country: dry valleys, caverns, and pretty stone-built villages like Bakewell, Castleton, and Hartington.
Walking is the main activity: the Pennine Way begins here, and the network of rights of way is extensive. Cycling is popular on the converted railway lines. Chatsworth House, one of England's grandest stately homes, lies just inside the park boundary near Bakewell.
