Britain's National Parks

cool poll. i've been to 9 of these (need to see more of my own country tbh) and they are all great. south downs maybe the dullest but still v v pretty. new forest and the broads not as spectacular as some of the others but are both super atmospheric.

The problem with coming from Essex/London is that it's nowhere near any of these places, so there are lots of them that I've never been to. I know the South Downs really well, and it's nice, but it's obviously not the best National Park. I'm sure I'd love Snowdonia and the Lake District if I ever went there properly (I've spent half a day in each of them, inside a car in the pouring rain).

The ones I've been to properly (i.e. spent more than a day in and been walking/cycling around) are the Brecon Beacons, the New Forest, the Peak District, the South Downs, and the Yorkshire Dales. They're all great in different ways, but the Peak District is easily my favourite, particularly the 'Dark Peak' in the northern half near Sheffield. There's a wildness to the rocks and moors that I love, and when the heather is purple it looks fantastic.

I've never been to any of them, as I've only spent time in London, which as you mentioned is nowhere near any of them! I want to go on a Spring ramble in a couple.

Derwent Edge (Peak District)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/captainzep/1401433224/in/set-72157594213686660/
I took this on a slightly mad solo day trip a couple of years ago: nine hours of driving and about five hours of walking.

Trying again:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1426/1401433224_bf665fa8a2.jpg

I love that kind of thing. That's what I want to see.

Don't go to the Broads then!

So difficult to choose. They're all lovely (even the Broads - which can be overcrowded, as can the Lake District obv) in their own way.

PEAK DISTRICT

http://www.heason.net/download/pictures/Gallery_-_Andy_Curtis/Stanage_Edge_Peak_District.jpg

sheffield is ten minutes that way -------->

pretty much all the illegal stuff i did as a teenager was done in that national park.

Have been to:

Cairngorms
Lake District
Loch Lomond
Northumberland
North York Moors
Snowdonia
Yorkshire Dales

Local pride dictates that the Cairngorms is my favourite. That and the fact that it's beautiful. Had an excellent few days earlier this year which took in parts of the Lake District, North York Moors and Northumberland, all of which have their charm, but you really can't beat the Cairngorms for scenery and wildlife and just general WOW factor, even if Aviemore is one of the shittiest towns ever spewed into existence.

some of these are prettier/more dramatic than the peak district, but the peak district has this sort of hippie/boozy atmosphere i think, due mostly to the towns nearby, whereas some of the others have struck me as a bit mondeo man or touristy.

This thread reminds me that there are some drawbacks to being a pedestrian who never ventures out of London, except to Heathrow, Gatwick etc.

I haven't seen anywhere near enough of these (Dartmoor, Exmoor, South Downs are all lovely though) but I think one with proper hills and lakes and shit is what you want to vote for really. I've heard Loch Lomond is beautiful as well.

This is totally the upside to living in a country when it rains all the time, by the way, you get amazing countryside like this.

NY Moors out of the ones i've been to.

properly remote.

have been to and explored:

Brecon Beacons
Broads
Cairngorms
Peak District
Pembrokeshire Coast
South Downs

would like to give all the others a go

choosing a favourite is very difficult because i have great memories of these ESPECIALLY broads, cairngorms and pembrokeshire coast (i got very lost once on the latter, which led to maybe my most epic quest, a quest that led to me wading 20 metres through chest-high bracken, furze, gorse and nettles in SHORTS in order to get back onto the path, before falling 2 metres knee-first onto stones and whimpering for about 10 minutes before crawling back to find my school group...the basic principle here is try not to get lost on a coastal path)

ok those 3 are particularly idyllic in their violently contrasting ways but i'm going cairngorms, that shit is unimpeachably beautiful

(Just bumping this thread)

I voted North York Moors and that's partly local prejudice I guess but "properly remote" seems fair too. A lot of these I love because of their interaction with human geography too tho. Could've gone with Dartmoor, the Peaks or the Dales from the ones I know well enough.

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Peak district = most inappropriately named.
Broads = shit.
Cairngorms? Gimme Glen Coe any day.

I've only been to NYMoors but they were pretty lovely in their own way. I do have to say that (and I'm not that well-traveled in Britain and haven't seen Wales or Cornwall) Scotland, especially 'round Loch Lomond was more impressive.

What's the name of the large peak in Lancashire not super far out of Manchester?

kinder scout?

I'll probably never find out. I was a kid visiting Manchester and these friends of a friend took me out to some peak which was famously high (as someone who grew up in Yosemite, I wasn't all that impressed with its height) and from which we could see the Pennines. It was rather beautiful in that sparse way that northern Britain is.

kinder scout has a flat top and is vaguely horseshoe shaped. you can see it from choice hangouts like the cheadle end of stockport county's ground and the arndale centre car park. I went up it on a full moon once, it was amazing, especially coming down with Manchester lit up in front.

I'd have to find my travel diary from when I was 15. I seriously have no idea and wikipedia isn't really helping.

way more familiar with the peak district and dales than the rest and love them both. snowdonia is still what I think of when I think of mountains, and most of scotland is beautiful parks or not, but I'm voting for the dales. they have their share of heather and desolate charm but they're also lived in, farmed, mines and full of pubs w/old peculiar on tap.

http://classictravelling.com/wp-content/uploads/UK/Yorkshire/swaledale%201.jpg

What's the name of the large peak in Lancashire not super far out of Manchester?

pendle hill? winter hill? did it have a big fuck-off mast on top?

or witches?

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Came from nowhere that one?

i will visit all this moors.

how common are historical structures in these? wondering relative to american NPs, but any insight is appreciated

no love for Exmoor or Dartmoor :-(

roxy, some of the parks are riddled with old buildings of one sort or another (Peaks, Lakes, Exmoor, Dales) whilst the more rugged (Dartmoor, Snowdonia, North York Moors) are much more deserted in feel. Of course none of them approach the more isolated American parks in terms of lack of man-made structures.

a lot of them are historical structures to some extent in terms of human shaping of the landscape - iron age deforestation etc

^otm, in fact probably all of them, with the possible exception of Dartmoor and the N Yorks Moors?

sure, but i'm wondering about architecture/habitable structures specifically

Dartmoor Prison is the most obvious thing that springs to mind

http://www.dartmoor-prison.co.uk/

the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park contains several castles

http://www.visitpembrokeshire.com/content.asp?nav=32

as well as coastal towns within the scope of the park i think

In the UK there are 15 members in the National Park family which are protected areas because of their beautiful countryside, wildlife and cultural heritage. People live and work in the National Parks and the farms, villages and towns are protected along with the landscape and wildlife. National Parks welcome visitors and provide opportunities for everyone to experience, enjoy and learn about their special qualities.

so yeah there are towns and all kinds of human structures within our National Parks. i guess US National Parks are more "wilderness" areas?

maybe in the west. in the east tons of them are strictly structures or are wilderness areas with historical structures scattered throughout (pioneer cabins, etc)

xxp yeah places like Solva and St Davids are within the Pembrokeshire Park IIRC, St Davids has a freakin' cathedral in it! Also smallest city in Britain I think...

lots of pre-historical structures in our national parks:

http://adriancolston.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/beehive.jpg

http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/17/28/172841_6379e910.jpg

http://www.historvius.com/images/original/Castlerigg-Stone-Circle-2246.jpg

etc...

hey that was taken on my birthday

before iron plough shares the thinner soils on higher ground were the best cultivable land, so a lot of prehistoric sites are on moorland etc

that is a v pleasing fact to learn

many of them are full of historical villages, towns, major roads, etc., etc., e.g. peak district, south downs, etc. some of the major attractions are presumably administered by/in collaboration with the relevant national park. e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Visitor_attractions_of_the_Peak_District.

i would like to change my vote to snowdonia, i don't know what i was thinking.

0 votes for the south downs otm.