Stanage Edge is the definitive Dark Peak experience: a five-mile gritstone escarpment that drops from the moor edge in a series of blocky cliffs above the Hope Valley. On a clear day the view south reaches Ladybower Reservoir and the White Peak limestone beyond. On a grey day the moorland and the rock take on a bleakness that is completely its own.
The main walk follows the edge from Hathersage or the upper parking areas above Dennis Knoll, a ridge walk of varying difficulty, entirely free. Climbers work the gritstone faces below all year round. Hathersage village, 20 minutes' walk downhill, has good pubs for afterwards.