White Peak Camping

White Peak Camping is a simple site in the Peak District and simultaneously in the middle of everything and in the middle of nowhere. It’s a campsite on a farm that’s midway between Bakewell and Buxton. It’s just 15 minutes’ drive from Chatsworth House and a single mile from the walking and cycling of the traffic-free Monsal Trail. And yet, despite being within easy reach of the must-see sights of this part of the national park, it’s rather quiet round here. The site is in the sleepy hamlet of Priestcliffe surrounded by dry stone walls, farmer’s fields and… well… not much more than that.

There’s no shop within walking distance but there are two pubs if you don’t mind a mile-or-so hike across hills and dales. Those who will like it here most are exactly those kind of people; capable and outdoorsy. This is a dog-friendly, pitch where-you-please campsite in a gently sloping field that’s available for campers with tents and campervans only. You enter through the farmyard and, if hosts Paul and Janice are busy elsewhere on the farm, you’re invited to set yourself up. They’ll be around to say hello later and to sell you logs for a campfire if you want one. They'll provide a fire pit for free. It’s a relaxed place with a tree swing, toilets and taps – but no showers. There’s certainly nothing to distract you from the far-reaching Peak District views.

As the name of the campsite implies, this is the White Peak, the central-southern and softer part of the Peak District National Park where the countryside forms rolls rather than crags. The Monsal Trail, the route of a former railway line, provides a great way to travel through it on two feet or two wheels. You can join it just a mile away at Miller’s Dale. For a faster way to get around, you’re also not far off the A6 which links Buxton, just over six miles in one direction, with Bakewell, just over six miles away in the other. In fact, all of the White Peak is easily accessible from here and all of the wider Peak District can be explored on day trips too.