Enjoy a Family Day Out in the Peak District National Park

It’s an activity that everyone from teeny tots to great-grannies can do.

Plan your route, picnic stops and loo breaks with the free information you can download from the Pedal Peak District website www.pedalpeakdistrict.co.uk .

Two Popular Trails

The Manifold Track and Tissington Trail are two very family friendly cycle routes providing traffic free, almost totally flat, easy cycling surfaces through beautiful WhitePeak scenery.

You can see both the Manifold Track and Tissington Trail routes on the downloadable WhitePeak cycle routes map and leaflet on the website www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/ppd-cycle-trails-leaflet.pdf .

If you’re coming with your own bikes the map pinpoints convenient pay and display car parks, loos and on route refreshments.

If you need to hire a bike the National Park Authority cycle hire centres at Parsley Hay and Ashbourne are ideally placed for access straight onto the Tissington Trail www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/cyclehire .

For the Manifold Track there are two private cycle hire centres at the Waterhouses end of the route: Brown End Farm and ManifoldValley.

Whatever your age or ability you will find a bike to suit. The National Park Authority cycle hire centres offer baby seats for bikes, child’s trailers and specialist equipment including trikes, wheelchair bikes and hand crank machines www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/cyclesforhire .

Another Top Family Trail to Try

If you like cycling with a backdrop of forest and expanses of water then give the UpperDerwentValley a try.The Derwent cycle routes are good for families that can cope with slightly more challenging and varied terrain – there is a section of flattish on road cycling before you get to the off road track which undulates and the surface is quite bumpy as you head around the reservoirs.

Download from the website www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/cycle-routes-in-the-upper-derwent-valley.pdf .

If your family needs a confidence boost or anyone is nervous about cycling and would benefit from some friendly advice why not book on a cycle skills course www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/cyclingevents . The National Park Authority is running a series of free events specially designed to help people get into the saddle and develop their cycling ability.

If you need to resort to bribery to get some family members onto two wheels then the Pedalling Picnics, Biking Banquets leaflet www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/ppd-picnics-leaflet.pdf could be just the thing to tempt them! The thought of rewards with delicious homemade cake in a village tearoom or at a farmhouse café usually does the trick.