Peak District Touring: Dark Peak, White Peak and Busy Villages

Two national parks in one

The Peak District divides cleanly. The White Peak in the south is limestone: green fields, drystone walls, deep dales and villages of pale stone. The Dark Peak in the north is gritstone: heather moor, exposed edges and a bleaker, bigger landscape. They are half an hour apart and feel like different counties. Choosing which half to spend the day in is the first decision. Mixing them works, but the roads between are slow and the contrast is better appreciated with time in each rather than a dash across.

Roads that close, and one that never reopened

The old main road under Mam Tor was abandoned decades ago after repeated landslips and its broken surface is now a curiosity to walk on. Winnats Pass carries the traffic instead, a steep limestone cleft that is spectacular and occasionally closed in ice or high wind.

Snake Pass across the northern moors is among the first roads in England to close in snow and is periodically shut by landslip. Woodhead is the more reliable northern crossing. In winter, always have the alternative in mind rather than discovering the closure at the barrier.

Villages, caverns and the parking problem

Castleton sits under the ruins of Peveril Castle with four show caverns around it, including the only place in the world where Blue John stone is mined. It is compact and its car parks fill by late morning on any fine weekend. Bakewell has a genuine market, a fine bridge and the original pudding, and suffers the same pressure. Monsal Head has a car park too small for the view it serves. Being dropped at the village and collected later solves what is otherwise the most frustrating part of a Peak District day.

• Castleton for the caverns and Peveril Castle above
• Bakewell on market day, arriving before the car parks fill
• Monsal Head for the viaduct view, best outside peak hours
• Eyam for the plague village story, quieter than either

The great houses on the edge

Chatsworth and Haddon Hall lie within a few miles of each other in the Derwent valley and represent opposite ideas of what a historic house can be. Lyme Park on the western edge and Hardwick Hall a little further east add two more. Combining a house with a stretch of moorland or dale gives a better-balanced day than either alone, and it provides a reliable indoor option when the weather closes in on the tops.

Seasons and the reservoirs

Heather colours the northern moors in August and is the single most striking seasonal moment in the park. Autumn brings colour to the dales and the Derwent woods. Winter can be severe on the high ground while the dales stay mild. The Upper Derwent reservoirs are popular enough that vehicle access up the valley is restricted at busy times, with a shuttle running instead. That arrangement changes seasonally, so it is worth checking before building an afternoon around it.

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