Adventures in
Northern England.

England's mountain country — the Lake District, the Peaks, the Pennines and the Yorkshire Dales between them hold the most concentrated upland adventure in the country.

Northern England runs from the Peak District (England's first National Park, established 1951) north through the Yorkshire Dales and Moors, west into the Lake District, and on to Hadrian's Wall and the Cheviot Hills on the Scottish border. Thirteen spots in the directory cover hiking, climbing, mountain biking and paragliding across this range.

The Lake District is the central player — Scafell, Helvellyn, the Old Man of Coniston, Striding Edge. Lake District rock climbing is a defining tradition; the routes are atmospheric, often sea-cliff or mountain-face, and the weather is part of the experience. Whinlatter Forest Park is England's only true mountain MTB centre, with 600m+ of trail above Bassenthwaite. The Coast to Coast Hike (192 miles, Wainwright's 1973 line) starts at St Bees and crosses the heart of the region.

The Peak District is the cradle of modern British climbing — Stanage, Burbage, Froggatt, Curbar on the gritstone edges. The Pennine Way runs 268 miles from Edale north to the Scottish border. Cannock Chase and Dalby Forest are the standard English MTB trail centres on either side of the Pennines.

Yorkshire and Northumberland round out the range. Dalby Forest and the North York Moors offer one of the country's longest forest MTB networks; Hadrian's Wall Path gives 84 miles of Roman frontier walking; the Cheviots in north Northumberland are some of the quietest hills in Britain and one of the few UK Dark Sky Parks.