Peak district -good place to park

[countrygirl99]

DS & DIL are coming home for Christmas (they live in Finland) and would like to do a hike in the Peaks. Preference is Mam Tor as that's where they got engaged. But it's 3 hours away and I understand the parking in Edale tends to fill up early. I need to muck out my horse before we leave home so unlikely to be there before 9.30-10. Any suggestions for other locations for good parking if we can't park at Edale. Other hikes are ok if we can't make Mam Tor work.

There are plenty of proper car parks in Castleton without needing to park anywhere unofficial…. Mam tor is an easy enough walk from there

Brilliant, that's a shorter drive as well. It's years since I've been to the Peak District. We used to camp at Edale regularly pre kids.

There's another car park on Rushup Edge, on Google maps it's marked as "Mam Tor Hillfort Car Park". I think it's NT owned, so free if you're a member. From there it's a quick but steep walk up the hill to the summit.

The large car park in Castleton does get busy but you might be lucky and find a spot there! It's further to reach the summit of Mam Tor from there, but if you're wanting a longer walk it's an enjoyable circuit from there up Cave Dale, over the top of Winnats, onto the Mam Tor ridge then follow that as far as you fancy - there are several options to descend to the car park from there.

You might also be able to get roadside parking on the old Mam Tor Road.

If you park in Castleton and want a circular walk of up to 9 miles, you can go up Cavedske and across the fields to rush up edge, go along to zm Nick where the road goes through, on up Nsm Tor, then follow the path to jollies ctoss, back your and then onto lose hill, then drop down back to Castleton on the footpaths behind the youth hostel…. Or to cut it a lot shorter, walk up the old road from Castleton, straight up to Mam tor and then drop back down at hollins cross.

We went on Monday, parked in Castleton and had a lovely time even if a bit foggy. Diverted to Bakewell on the way home as Finnish DIL had never had bakewell tart and we found a café there that does vegan ones. Made me remember how much I used to love weekend camping and walking trips there pre kids so I'm going to make a point of a few days trips once my horse is out 24/7 in the spring and I don't have to plan around mucking out.

That’s one of my favourite walks. Dh goes to mam tor a lot as he paraglides from that area. He says the NT car park at rushup edge is normally full by about 8am at a weekend.