A Day in Peak District – amongst the wonders of nature!

My interest to visit peak district begun when I heard there is a place in UK where you can see the Black and White mountains together. My curiosity rose when I read more about it and realized that the area is actually split into – Dark Peak caused by gritstone that covers the moorland – north, east and west sides and the White Peak caused by limestone plateau covering the central and southern parts and are well known for the valleys and gorges.

It sounded just perfect – head out on a nice sunny day, enjoy the walk in the moorland and some adventure hiking the valley. But, Peak District had much more to offer and explore ..and I would definitely say that it truly had a black and white scenic beauty!

So here is my itinerary

Snake Pass

As per my itinerary, my initial plan was to start off early and head straight to Black Hill (Wessenden Head Road Car Park) and walk to Soldiers Lump, which is the highest point in the county of West Yorkshire) which was a good 45 min walk from the car park by following the Pennine way. But unfortunately, I started off late so instead just stopped over at the Holme Moss Car Park and had a look at the area. Then we drove through the Snake Pass and I must say the drive is pretty thrilling, no wonder it is known as biker’s paradise!

Heatherdene (Ladybower Reservoir)

Next stop was Heatherdene (Ladybower Reservoir) and I must say the place is very very beautiful. It is a large Y-shaped reservoir in the Upper Derwent Valley, at the heart of the Peak District National Park which was opened in 1945. You can easily spend a day here as there are so many walking trails.

This https://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/visiting/miles-without-stiles/ladybower is what I followed to have a good view of the Dam, the reservoir and then a walk around the woods by following the Derwent valley heritage trail. The most difficult part is to get a parking place in Heatherdene car park as it was pretty busy!

Treak Cliff Cavern

Next stop was Treak Cliff Cavern to see the large deposits of the Blue John Stone formations and some of the beautiful cave formations. We took a self- guided audio tour on our phone which was pretty good and informative, and we could see the fossils, different limestone formations, blue stone mining area. Since the Cliff had just opened post lockdown, we could completely enjoy the visit as there were very few visitors. The surprise element was that as soon as we exited the cliff, we stepped into the most beautiful view point – with the Black Peak on the left and the White Peak on the right. You can also see the Win Hill and Lose Hill at a distance.(

Entry charges: £12.5/personhttp://person https://bluejohnstone.com/online-booking/ . It has a dedicated parking space at the foothill)

Lathkill Dale & Lathkill Hotel

We wanted to drive through the limestone terrains so we headed towards south of Peak District- Lathkill Dale, the drive was pretty scenic. I had read that the riverside walk along the Lathkill Dale is very peaceful and beautiful, but we couldn’t find a place to park and head towards the river. As we were pretty tired as well, so instead we headed towards Lathkill Hotel to take a short break and I am glad that we did as the view from the seating area was amazing and the beer after a tiring day felt really refreshing

Chesterfield Parish Church

And before heading back home, we thought of stopping by one last point the Chesterfield Parish Church– known for its peculiar architectural difference, its twisted and leaning spire. The church was closed by the time we got there, but we could have a look at why it is known as the Crooked Spire! 

I could cover all these places and enjoy the beauty of the places as I had gone in July, so had a pretty long day to explore them all! But I was pretty tired by the end of the day, as most of these places are best suited to go for long walks, hikes, cycling etc.