One of the three National Parks of Yorkshire

Digley Reservoir, near Holme Raven Stones and Greenfield Reservoir The vast 555 square miles (1,438 square kilometeres) of Britain's first national park starts at its northern edge in Yorkshire and extends into Derbyshire, Cheshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire across the southern reaches of The Pennines.

Yorkshire is the gateway to the northern Dark Peak area of the Peak District, characterised by gritstone and peat moorlands, although these are increasingly being revegetated with heather.

The area has vast plateaus with some rocky outcrops and deep stream-filled valleys, known as cloughs.

Some of the larger valleys are occupied by reservoirs adding to the beauty of the local landscape.

The land rises in places to rounded peaks which on a day clear of low cloud can offer breathtaking panoramas for many miles across Yorkshire. One such point is West Nab at 501 metres, above Meltham, a village a few miles from Huddersfield in West Yorkshire. At the other side of the peak, the Wessenden Valley, with its attractive reservoirs leads to Marsden.

Wessenden Valley above Marsden, West Yorkshire A higher point is on the more remote moorland of Black Hill. At 582 metres this is the highest point of the present-day county of West Yorkshire and until 1974 it was the highest point of the historic county of Cheshire before that side of the boundary became part of Derbyshire.

The National Park stretches into the  Kirklees metropolitan district of West Yorkshire and the  Sheffield and  Barnsley metropolitan districts of South Yorkshire and also into the Saddleworth area, part of the former West Riding of Yorkshire which is now in the  Oldham metropolitan district of Greater Manchester.

Butterley Reservoir, near Marsden The National Park was designated on April 17, 1951 after decades of public campaigning for a right to roam in open areas of countryside. This included a mass trespass on Peak District moorland in the 1930s.

Today the area offers excellent opportunities for walking, from well signposted paths and tracks in the lower reaches of the park to more challenging hiking conditions on the open moorland, which is crossed by the Pennine Way long-distance hiking route.

There are also cycling opportunities in the area. The ultimate challenge might be to cycle across Holme Moss, where the road summit is 524m (1719ft) above sea level. The route formed a King of the Mountain stage when the Tour de France came to Yorkshire in 2014.

Langsett Reservoir Sailing, Winscar Reservoir Springtime in Low Bradfield The splendid scenery of the area can also be enjoyed from several moorland pubs and restaurants at the edges of the park.

The park offers a wealth of leisure opportunities for the 16.1 million people living within an hour drive of the national park and for visitors from further afield.

Carl Wark and Higger Tor, near the South Yorkshire border with Derbyshire Beyond Yorkshire's rugged Dark Peak is the White Peak limestone landscape and small villages and towns of Derbyshire and the heather mooorland, hay meadows and pastures of Cheshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire.

If travelling out of Yorkshire, the limestone scenery of the Derbyshire Dales can be reached through a short train ride from Sheffield.

A millstone is the characteristic symbol of the park. The millstones were traditionally used in use in corn mills and are known to have been produced in the area of the park from at least the 13th century.

Yorkshire villages in the Peak District

High Bradfield Yorkshire villages and hamlets in or on the boundary of the park are:

Bolsterstone, Holme, Dunford Bridge, Langsett, Ewden, High Bradfield, Low Bradfield and Ringinglow.

Yorkshire places just outside the park are:

Dungworth, Huddersfield, Marsden, Meltham, Holmfirth, Penistone, Stocksbridge, Sheffield, Diggle, Greenfield and Uppermill.

The park's visitor centres are in Derbyshire in Bakewell, Castleton, Edale and Bamford.

Visiting the National Park by train

Marsden station The nearest railway station in Yorkshire to the National Park is Marsden, near Huddersfield, from where there is a one mile walk to the edge of the park near Butterley Reservoir and the Wessenden Valley.

Sheffield offers another gateway to the National Park with train services to the Hope Valley line in Derbyshire where there are stations within the park at Hathersage, Bamford, Hope and Edale in Derbyshire.

Visiting the National Park by bus

314 bus from Huddersfield and Holmfirth operates regularly into the National Park at Holme village.

25A and 29 from Holmfirth offers an infrequent service to Dunford Bridge at the edge of the National Park, except Sundays (also not Saturday for 25A).

87 offers a Wednesday service from Holmfirth to Langsettat the edge of the park, continuing via Strines to Bamford and Castleton in Derbyshire.

351 on Fridays runs from Holmfirth via Holme and Holme Moss to Glossop in Derbyshire.

352 on Saturday and 357 Tuesday services operate from Holmfirththrough the National Park towards Greenfield, 352 also reaching Uppermill.

184 is a regular daily daytime service from Huddersfield bus station towards Oldham, stopping near the boundary of the park near Redbrook Reservoir above Marsden, which provides opportunities for walks starting on the moorland.

There are also bus services to the large villages of Meltham and Marsden where the park starts around half a mile from the village centres.

61 and 62operate a regular service from Hillsborough Interchange on the outskirts of Sheffield to Low Bradfield and High Bradfield in the National Park.

Other websites

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Peak District National Park   Website of the Peak District National Park Authority

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Page updated: Wednesday, 30-Jul-2025 13:20:37 UTC

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