Peak District
OVERVIEW
As a result, the Peak District offers up an extremely high level of variety - with fairly good access from the surrounding towns.
With these services you can reasonably expect to be able to base yourself somewhere like Chesterfield - and fairly easily be able to access all the key sites across the Peak District.
Whilst in other areas journey frequency can be problematic, many of these are frequent enough to be relied upon.
NOTABLE WALKING ROUTES
The Peak District is fairly well served by both shorter distance walking trails and longer distance walking trails, and the most notable of the long-distance walking trails are listed below:
Derwent Valley Heritage Trail - Named Trail
The Derwent Valley Heritage Trail runs along the very eastern edge of the Peak District, before dropping down to finish in Derby below the expanse of the National Park.
The trail does, however, retain a relevance to the rest of the park - as it is designed - as it continues to celebrate the heritage of the industry that dominated this region.
Limestone Way - Named Trail
The Limestone Way runs through the southern end of the Peak District and is focused on the limestone hills of the National Park.
The degree to which the Trans-Pennine Trail crosses the Peak District is fairly limited - but it does give another trail that passes across the less frequented upper end of the National Park.
The Peak District is a range of hills that can be broken into two distinct sections.
To the south you have the White Peak, which is an area dominated by limestone dales - with green rolling hills - whilst to the north you have the Dark Peak, which is an area dominated by gritstone, resulting in boggy moorlands.
Like the South Pennines, this area also finds itself very close to large industrial centres - and this has had an impact on this area of countryside.
 |
| Peak District Map, Source: Peak District Website |
GETTING ABOUT
The easiest access to the Peak District comes via the Hope Valley train line, which includes stops at Grindleford, Heathersage, Bamford, Hope, Edale - and then numerous stops in the area around Whaley Bridge (and on down to Buxton).
In the south east corner of the National Park, Matlock provides additional access - whilst Marsden sits just to the north of the National Park.
Otherwise buses are the main means of public transportation.
From Buxton (on the west of the National Park), buses head to the southern end of the park in Ashbourne (with access to the Tissington Trail), up the west of the park to Glossop, across the Hope Valley to Castleton (with a top at Mam Nick), and to the farthest west (and on to Macclesfield).
A longer distance bus also connects Buxton and Derby via Matlock and Bakewell - giving access to the Monsal Trail.
From Chesterfield buses run to Bakewll via Baslow (providing access to the Monsal Trail and Chatsworth House).
From Sheffield buses run to Chatsworth via Bakewell (Monsal Trail and Chatsworth House, to Castleton via Heathersage, and to Buxton via Eyam & Tideswell (and the western end of the Monsal Trail).
These services are subject to change, but are also detailed here: Peak District Bus Routes: Peak District National Park.
Whilst in other areas journey frequency can be problematic, many of these are frequent enough to be relied upon.
NOTABLE WALKING ROUTES
The Peak District is fairly well served by both shorter distance walking trails and longer distance walking trails, and the most notable of the long-distance walking trails are listed below:
The Derwent Valley Heritage Trail runs along the very eastern edge of the Peak District, before dropping down to finish in Derby below the expanse of the National Park.
The trail does, however, retain a relevance to the rest of the park - as it is designed - as it continues to celebrate the heritage of the industry that dominated this region.
Limestone Way - Named Trail
The Limestone Way runs through the southern end of the Peak District and is focused on the limestone hills of the National Park.
This is not a trail I have planned - but does cover a good section of the southern end of the park.
Monsal Trail
The Monsal Trail is a former railway route that use to run through the Peak District between Buxton and Matlock - and it has been retained as a walking and hiking trail.
Monsal Trail
The Monsal Trail is a former railway route that use to run through the Peak District between Buxton and Matlock - and it has been retained as a walking and hiking trail.
With this trail cutting through a very uncompromising landscape this results in a dramatic trail, where you can continue to walk through the old railway tunnels - and through the cutting sliced through the rock.
Pennine Bridleway - National Trail
The southern end of the Pennine Bridleway runs through the Peak District, with the southern-most section of the trail being the High Peak Trail (another former railway route).
The southern end of the Pennine Bridleway runs through the Peak District, with the southern-most section of the trail being the High Peak Trail (another former railway route).
But the trail then goes on to pass all the way up the length of the Peak District - before breaking out into the South Pennines near Marsden, at the northern end of the peaks.
The length of this trail across the Peak District makes it an ideal trail to get to know the national park from.
Pennine Way - National Trail
The Pennine Way famously starts in Edale - and whilst this is already fairly near the top of the Peak District (and heading north), this section of the Pennine Way shows off the Peak District at it's absolute best.
Pennine Way - National Trail
The Pennine Way famously starts in Edale - and whilst this is already fairly near the top of the Peak District (and heading north), this section of the Pennine Way shows off the Peak District at it's absolute best.
The nature of the trail this far north is very different to what you will see on the more southerly trails - such as the Monsal Trail or Limestone Way - but this is a section that is very worth doing.
I did the stretch from Edale up to Marsden in a single day - but this was a long trip over some challenging terrain.
Tissington Trail - Named Trail
The Tissington Trail is a more minor trail - but again one of the old railways - and again a route that is focused to the south of the National Park.
The Tissington Trail is a more minor trail - but again one of the old railways - and again a route that is focused to the south of the National Park.
The trail is, however, quite easy to do - and in combination with the High Peak Trail (see Pennine Bridleway) will give a good feel for that part of the park.
This is also a fairly straight-forward walk logistically - heading from Hatfield in the west to Penistone in the east, with train stations at either end of the trail.
Comments
Post a Comment