The Peak District is an excellent, family-friendly day out.
Despite its name, there aren’t all that many peaks in this National Park, which means there are loads of walks suitable for the whole family.
If you’re introducing hiking to children, you want something that offers great views that’s not too long.
Here are five of my favorite easy peak district walks.
1. Padley Gorge and the Longshaw Estate
Highlights – Paddling in the river, the ice cream van, the rhododendron dens, and Longshaw Estate café.
- Difficulty: easy
- Route type: circular
- Distance: 2.5 miles
- Start/end location: Longshaw Estate National Trust Car Park, Near Fox House, Grindleford, S11 7TZ
- Other information: dogs need to be on a lead for most of the walk, all-terrain pushchairs will be ok.
The Walk
Starting at the Longshaw Estate National Trust car park, you walk through the Longshaw Estate grounds and pass the café and toilet facilities after a few hundred yards.
Heading down the path, you’ll come to a gate and some trees.
We always prefer to do the route in an anti-clockwise direction and so turn right after going through the gate.
This takes you slightly downhill and past lots of rhododendron bushes that are great for exploring.
You’ll walk alongside these for a while and then go through another gate into a sheep field before coming to a pond where you can see ducks, including Mandarin ducks.
Continue walking and you’ll see a path going off to your left – this will be where you’ll head after visiting Padley Gorge (and the ice cream van!).
Before going down that path, continue to your right and past an old building.
You’ll need to cross a road and then you’ll see the river in front of you.
When you’ve had enough paddling, head back up to the path and take the one to the right.
This will go through some woodland and then open out into a sheep field.
You’ll walk a short way until you cross a stream, then you’ll turn left up the hill.
Depending on the time of year, you might see cows along this way (and even calves too!).
After a leisurely climb, you’ll come to a crossroads.
Take the path to the left – it’s relatively flat from this point – and you’ll end up back where you started.
2. Monsal Viaduct Walk
Highlights – Stunning views, walking over a viaduct.
- Difficulty: easy but with a steep climb
- Route type: circular
- Distance: 1.5 miles
- Start/end location: Monsal Head car park
- Other information: stunning if you come at sunset
The Walk
This is an accessible terrain but there are some steps and steep sections. Monsal Head is around 13 miles south of Sheffield and 3 miles north of Bakewell.
The car park is in front of a pub that overlooks Monsal Dale. While there are no shops or cafés on the route, the pub serves food and drink.
Firstly, you need to walk down the steps down from Monsal Head then turn left to follow the trail until you reach Monsal viaduct.
It’s a great time to check out the Headstone Tunnel, which is cool on hot summer days!
After crossing the viaduct, walk 500 meters until you come across a disused shelter on your right. Behind this is a small gate.
This leads down to the river (River Wye). Cross the bridge and go up the road.
Turn right to walk along the road for 500 meters (you’ll be heading back towards Monsal Head).
This road is a country road that’s pretty narrow so watch young children as there are no footpaths.
When you reach Brushfield Lane, walk back towards the river and cross the bridge.
You’ll follow a trail along the river and underneath the viaduct. After the viaduct (around half a km) you’ll come to Monsal waterfall.
The trail then goes up through woods back to Monsal Head. This is quite steep and there is a drop so watch young children as you go.
3. Mam Tor
Highlights – Great views and a hill to conquer!
- Difficulty: a short walk but a steep hill for little legs
- Route type: out and back
- Distance: 1.5 miles
- Start/end location: National Trust car park at the base of Mam Tor
- Other information: The stones can be slippery in wet weather
Pick one
The Walk
If your kids are anything like mine, they’ll want to conquer a “mountain” – and Mam Tor is perfect for that.
This walk isn’t a circular walk but is a great introduction to climbing for children.
The summit of the hill is just a short walk from the National Trust car park, and you can’t go wrong!
If you do want to make the walk longer, you can continue over the Great Ridge and into Castleton.
Mam Tor is 517 m (1,696 ft) high. Its name means “mother hill” because there have been frequent landslips on the eastern face, which have produced lots of little hills beneath it!
The hill overlooks the White Peak and is on the southern side of the Dark Peak.
After your walk, you could spend time in the wonderful village of Castleton or visit the Blue John Cavern.
4. Ladybower Reservoir
Highlights – A flat walk with beautiful views of Ladybower and Derwent.
- Difficulty: An easy distance and terrain with one challenging climb
- Route type: circular
- Distance: 2 miles
- Start/end location: Fairholmes pay and display car park (or a free layby on the way to the car park, if there’s space)
- Other information: Get there early during holidays and on weekends as the car park can get full. It’s best to bring a picnic, though there is a kiosk in the car park that sells ice creams, drinks, and snacks. If there is a drought in summer, you can see the drowned villages under Ladybower. The villages of Ashopton and Derwent were flooded to create the reservoir in the 1930s and 40s. Be careful not to explore these where it’s muddy as people have been known to get stuck in the mud and have had to call mountain rescue!
The Walk
Ladybower Reservoir is around 10 miles from the city of Sheffield and close to the villages of Bamford and Hathersage.
The walk starts opposite the kiosk as you follow a small path.
This takes you to a road where you’ll see the impressive Derwent Dam.
After the dam, walk up the hill until you read a track that goes along the eastern side of the reservoirs.
Turn right to follow the trail and then you’ll need to look for a left turn that takes you up a steep path through a field.
This path will take you on a loop round Pike Low hill.
The walk can be extended to take in Upper Derwent reservoir.
5. Eyam Village
Highlights – Eyam village, the boundary stones, Mompesson’s Well, and Riley Graves.
- Difficulty: easy
- Route type: circular
- Distance: 3 miles
- Start/end location: anywhere in the village – a good place to start is near Eyam Parish church where there is roadside parking and the Plague cottages, Eyam Hall and Eyam Hall Gardens.
- Other information: Eyam has cafes, tea rooms and pubs. There is plenty of parking and public transport too. The route is accessible for wheelchairs and buggies and covers country lanes and footpaths.
The Walk
Walk along Church Street with Eyam Square to the right.
When you come to the junction, go straight on, and follow the lane (the Lydgate). At the end of this lane, go right at the fork and down the path.
Follow this path through the fields for around 1 km until you come to the boundary stone.
This is a small stone with holes in the ground. When Eyam was self-isolating during the plague, the villagers would leave coins inside the holes (which contained vinegar) for trading.
There is an information board here.
The path then goes back into the village through Eyam Square junction. Turn right to go up The Causeway and follow the country road up toward Riley Lane.
Go left up Riley Lane at the fork. You’ll see Riley Graves on the left.
When you’ve seen the graves, go back towards the village and take a right up Riley Back Lane and head back into Eyam.
Riley Back Lane turns into a path that takes you to Edge Road. At Edge Road, go right until you get to Mompesson’s Well.
After this, continue following Edge Road until you get into the village and past Eyam Museum.
To sum up
So, there you have it, five easy Peak District walks you can do with the kids.
Whether you fancy a paddle and an ice cream at Padley Gorge or conquering a hill at Mam Tor, there’s something for the whole family here.
If you’re wanting to make a break of it, check out our article on the best campsites in the Peak District too.
