Upper Derwent Visitor Centre Reviews Summary

Parking

Pros:

• "Parking fees are reasonable (£6 a day) and the machine takes cash and contactless payments."
• "There is plenty of parking available."
• "Secure parking accepting cards and coins. Has rest room facilities. Coffee ice cream and more."
• "The car park doesn't shut at night."
• "There are free parking bays on the access road between A57 and Fairholmes, it just means a walk to the facilities."
• "Large parking area which gets full on weekends, ample disabled bays which are free with blue badge."
• "Good size car park that even off-peak seems to fill up pretty quickly."

Cons:

• "Parking is ridiculous we drove an hour there only to have to drive straight back because there was no parking remotely near it available."
• "Parking can become a problem on the busier days, and the layout of the parking is a little 'janky'."
• "Parking is expensive and the overnight parking restrictions are a shame."
• "Awful experience, even in January there was an incredible under supply of car parking spaces."
• "Terrible to try and park here, parking charges a rip off and only one machine to pay by card."
• "Parking can be an issue during busy warm days."
• "The main issue is that it gets extremely busy at weekends and holidays that spaces are hard to find."

Visitor Centre & Facilities

Pros:

• "Nice visitor center with helpful staff and plenty of information."
• "The visitor centre is centrally located and there's also a small cafe and ice cream stall."
• "Great visit centre and area. The visit centre had good facilities and decent walking trails."
• "Good toilet facilities. A lovely little cafe and stunning views."
• "The kiosk cafe is open every day apart from Christmas day and we can recommend the coffee and pasties."
• "Great facilities, clean toilets and plenty of picnic tables etc."
• "The visitors center is just a shop and doesn't tell you anything about the subjects."

Cons:

• "Visitor Centre closed...not enough staff."
• "Unfortunately the facilities and services are hopelessly swamped by the sheer number of people visiting."
• "Nice area with toilets and a small café, not great thing is that on the reopening after the pandemic is selling very low standard of instant coffee for £2."
• "The only downside is that it can get very busy - especially in summer months or on bank holidays - to the extent that I would actively avoid it at these times."
• "Very disappointed to find out that the museum explaining all about the historical importance of the dam which was used by the RAF 617 squadron to practice for the dam buster raids has been closed."
• "Couldn't contact friends to find out where they were as no phone reception and the visitor centre didn't offer wifi."
• "A small visitors centre that might leave you expecting more than a tuck shop and a curio shop."

Scenery & Trails

Pros:

• "Nice, beautiful and interesting place for the whole family with a range of nice views and attractions including the dam."
• "An absolutely cracking area to visit for people of all abilities."
• "Amazing view at the south side of the center."
• "This is a spectacular area with good walks and wonderful scenery."
• "The scenery is awesome and there great views down the valley at the dams and also past them with some informative background information of them all."
• "Beautiful scenery lovely walks on great paths!"
• "The walks and cycle routes around Upper Derwent, Howden and the surrounding countryside are stunning - perhaps some of the best in the peak district."

Cons:

• "Difficult to say as it was shut. The little cage was open which was more than welcome after a 10 mile+ stroll around the reservoirs."
• "Visited 09/07/2022, we parked further away from the visitor centre, however soon realised while trying to do the walk that it is blocked at the car park for the visitor centre by builder fencing and looks like a tree is blocking the path, but hasn’t been sorted."
• "The cafe serves pretty good food and drinks. The walks from here are well maintained but signage could be better."
• "Could have been better marked, would have got lost or taken a wrong turn easily if it weren't for Google maps."
• "Walk round the southern half of the reservoir takes us just over 2hrs not the 1-2hrs as stated in the guide."
• "The cycle hire shuts quite early (5pm) which by the time you've got there and want to do a circuit of the reservoirs can be cutting it a bit fine with kids."
• "The thing we noticed though is that there were no dog waste bins at all along the trail."