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Black Rocks Country Park

An outcrop of gritstone sculpted by the wind and rain, Black Rocks hang high above the village of Cromford with a spectacular  view of the Derwent valley around Matlock and because of its popularity the area has been designated a country park. This is a popular place for recreation, with rock-climbing available on the rocks themselves and plenty of scope for walking in the park, which stretches right down to High Peak Junction where the former railway met the Cromford canal. There is also a fixed orienteering course and forest trails in the surrounding woods. The country park has a car park and small information centre with public toilets

Carsington Water

Ashbourne, Derbyshire, DE6 1ST

Tel: 01629 540696

This is a very popular visitor attraction which is owned and operated by Severn Trent Water. The Visitor Centre has within it a permanent exhibition explaining the role of water in our daily lives and the history and purpose of the reservoir. There is a wide range of facilities including shops selling souvenirs, craft items, embroidery materials, ceramics, books etc. There is also a Cafe in the courtyard and a restaurant. The area surrounding the reservoir contains waymarked footpaths and routes which allow access on foot, bike or horseback. There are facilities for a range of outdoor activities. Numerous walks and cycle routes take you round the site and cycle hire is available. There is a sailing club as well as a watersports centre offering hire of canoes, sailing dinghies, windsurfers etc and the reservoir is stocked for fishing.

The site is open throughout the year and a range of special events are held - contact the visitor centre for further information.

Derwent Dams

Visitor centre Tel: 01433 650953

The Upper Valley of the Derwent is a deep valley surrounded by gritstone edges and dominated by three great reservoirs. The upper two dams, Howden and Derwent, were constructed between 1901 and 1916 this is a popular area for walking, cycling and fishing. There is an information centre and car-park at Fairholmes, just below Derwent dam, run in cooperation with the Peak National Park.

Goyt valley

The Goyt valley is a popular spot and at weekends the road upstream from Errwood reservoir is closed to motor traffic. The land around here was originally the estate of Errwood Hall, the property of the Grimshawe family, but the Hall was demolished because of the building of the reservoir, and the ruins may be seen in amongst the rhododendrons to the west of Errwood reservoir. The reservoir is about another kilometre further downstream and is a favoured recreational area, with a sailing club on one side and picnic places on the other.

The Roaches

Nr Leek

The Roaches, with Hen Cloud and Ramshaw Rocks, form a gritstone escarpment which marks the south-western edge of the Peak.

The whole area is a favourite place with walkers and rock-climbers, and the edges provide some of the best gritstone climbing in the country, with famous classic routes such as Valkyrie, the Sloth and The Swan.

Stanage Edge

Stanage is the largest and most impressive of the gritstone edges. Situated on the moors north of Hathersage, it stretches for a length of approximately 3.5 miles. This is an ideal spot for rock climbing and climbers have given names to sections of the edge - Marble Wall, Crow Chin, Goliath's Groove, The Tower, The Unconquerables, Mississippi Buttress, Robin Hood's Cave, Black Hawk, Flying Buttress area etc. There are over 800 recorded climbs here.

Stanton Moor

Stanton Moor overlooks  the Derwent and Wye valleys. The moor contains at least 70 barrows as well as stone circles, ancient enclosures and standing stones from the Bronze Age and is of such interest to archaeologists that the whole area is now protected. The best known monument is the Nine Ladies Stone Circle but most of the other famous stones, the Cat Stone, Cork Stone and Andle or Aingle Stone, are natural in origin.

Pennine Way

The footpath runs from Derbyshire to the Scottish Border starting at The Nags Head in Edale.

It passes or crosses many of the landmarks of central northern England - Kinder, Bleaklow, Malham Cove, High Force, Cross Fell, Hadrian's Wall, and others to Kirk Yetholm.