Best Places to Visit Near Sheffield
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The best places to visit near Sheffield are Sheffield General Cemetery, Rivelin Valley Nature Trail, The Lost Gateway, Stanage Edge, Padley Gorge, Curbar Edge, Calver Weir and Derwent Dam Viewpoint.
Sheffield spreads across the hills of South Yorkshire on the very doorstep of the Peak District, so a green escape is never far away. Right in the city you can wander a Victorian garden cemetery in Sharrow, follow a wooded riverside trail past old mill dams in the Rivelin valley to the west, or search out a curious carved stone gateway hidden in Woolley Woods to the northeast.
Head west and the land soon rises into the Peak: the long gritstone rampart of Stanage Edge above Hathersage, the mossy oak woods and tumbling brook of Padley Gorge near Grindleford, and the breezy crest of Curbar Edge over the Derwent Valley. Down in that valley, a restored stone weir at Calver mixes river and industry, while further up the huge Derwent Dam recalls the wartime Dam Busters.
From industrial heritage and quiet woodland to soaring edges, a wooded gorge and wild swimming, the variety on offer is striking. Here are eight places to visit near Sheffield.
Sheffield General Cemetery
Photo: Richard Cooke via Geograph.org.uk
Sheffield General Cemetery Just southwest of the city centre in Sharrow, this Victorian garden cemetery opened in 1836 as one of the country's first landscaped commercial burial grounds. Laid out on a former quarry with Greek and Egyptian flourishes, it holds around 87,000 burials and closed to new ones in 1978.
Among the monuments stand a restored Nonconformist chapel, a Gothic Anglican chapel, a gatehouse built over the Porter Brook and hillside catacombs. A heritage trust now runs it as a green space and events venue, with restored paths and guided tours, and the chapel put to use for gatherings.
It makes a quietly fascinating walk close to the centre.
Rivelin Valley Nature Trail
Photo: Steve Fareham via Geograph.org.uk
Rivelin Valley Nature Trail Over in western Sheffield, this wooded riverside walk runs for about three miles along the River Rivelin, between Malin Bridge and the corn mill on Rails Road. The valley was once crowded with water-powered mills serving the city's cutlery and steel trades, and the trail slips past their surviving dams, wheel pits and weirs among the trees.
Look out for dippers, kingfishers and herons along the water. Near the middle, at Rivelin Park, you will find a cafe, toilets, a play area and a summer water-play feature, with parking on the valley road.
It is an easy, characterful walk with plenty of industrial history.
The Lost Gateway
Photo: Nic Franklin-Woolley via Geograph.org.uk
The Lost Gateway Tucked into Woolley Woods, an ancient wood in the northeast of Sheffield, the Lost Gateway is a stone sculpture made in 2010 to look like the crumbling remains of an old archway. Built from reclaimed local stone, it is carved with words, runes and imagery drawn from the Norse legend of the wolf Fenrir, and you can duck beneath its low arch.
It stands on a woodland path as part of a local art trail, with no buildings or facilities nearby. For all its weathered, ruined appearance, it is a modern artwork rather than a genuine relic, and a fun surprise to stumble upon among the trees.
Stanage Edge
Photo: Stephen Burton via Geograph.org.uk
Stanage Edge West of the city in the Peak District, Stanage Edge is a long gritstone crag running for three to four miles along the moors north of Hathersage, and one of the best-known rock-climbing spots in the country. A near-continuous wall of dark rock faces west over the Hope Valley, with a broad, breezy path along the top giving wide views over moor and dale, rising to its high point at High Neb.
Below the crag lie scattered old millstones, left where they were cut and abandoned when the trade collapsed. It draws walkers, climbers and photographers alike, and is at its finest as the sun goes down.
Padley Gorge
Photo: David Martin via Geograph.org.uk
Padley Gorge Mossy, dripping and forever damp, the old sessile oak and birch woodland here ranks among the furthest-inland temperate rainforest left in Britain, protected as a special site within the National Trust's Longshaw estate. Through it Burbage Brook tumbles over gritstone boulders down a deep ravine in the Peak District near Grindleford.
A path follows the water down the gorge, busy at weekends, reached from Longshaw, from Grindleford station or its cafe. Listen for breeding pied flycatcher and wood warbler in the canopy, while deer range across the wider estate.
Midweek it turns quieter and stranger still.
Curbar Edge
Photo: Graham Horn via Geograph.org.uk
Curbar Edge Continuing south above the Derwent Valley near Curbar and Baslow, Curbar Edge is a gritstone edge running along the moor top. A line of dark rock stands along the crest, dropping to a jumble of boulders below, with wide views west across the valley to the hills beyond.
Walkers stride the edge along the moor while climbers work the crag, one of the well-loved gritstone venues of the Peak. Heather moorland rolls away behind the top, and the whole edge is especially lovely in late-summer purple.
It is an easy, exhilarating walk with big skies and long views for very little effort.
Calver Weir
Photo: Peter Barr via Geograph.org.uk
Calver Weir Down on the River Derwent at Calver, this large stone weir steps the river in a broad curve beside a towering old cotton mill it was once built to power. Made from blocks of local gritstone, it holds a calm reach above and sends the water down in a wide sheet below.
The present weir dates from the 1840s, and by the early 2000s it was close to collapse before a local community project restored it, finishing the work around 2010. A fish pass runs alongside, and the calm water is used informally by swimmers and paddlers.
Set in the wooded Derwent valley, it blends river, industry and Peak scenery.
Derwent Dam Viewpoint
Photo: David Lally via Geograph.org.uk
Derwent Dam Viewpoint Further up in the Upper Derwent Valley, the Derwent Dam is a huge stone dam set between two castellated towers. When the reservoir behind it is full, the water pours over the top in a broad sheet down the great stone wall, a genuinely dramatic sight.
It was over this reservoir that the Dam Busters flew low in 1943, training for their raid on the German dams, and a memorial marks the connection. The Fairholmes visitor centre nearby is the usual starting point for the walk up to the dam.
It caps off a Peak District day with something between engineering and spectacle.
FAQs
Which parts of the Peak District are closest to Sheffield?
Sheffield sits right on the eastern edge of the Peak District, so Stanage Edge above Hathersage, Padley Gorge near Grindleford and Curbar Edge over the Derwent Valley are all within a short drive west of the city.
Is there wild swimming near Sheffield?
Yes. Calver Weir on the River Derwent, in the Peak District a short drive from Sheffield, holds a calm reach of water beside an old cotton mill that swimmers and paddlers use informally, though there are no facilities there.
What can I do near Sheffield without leaving the city?
Close to the centre of Sheffield you can wander the Victorian General Cemetery in Sharrow, walk the wooded Rivelin Valley Nature Trail past old mill dams, or seek out the Lost Gateway sculpture in Woolley Woods.
Conclusion
There are few cities where town and wild country sit so close together. Within Sheffield itself you can explore the leafy paths of the General Cemetery, trace the mill history of the Rivelin valley or find the strange carved gateway in Woolley Woods.
Step west and the Peak District opens up almost at once, with the gritstone drama of Stanage and Curbar Edge, the rainforest gorge of Padley near Grindleford, a restored weir and swimming spot at Calver, and the towering Derwent Dam of Dam Busters fame. Cemeteries, riverside walks, edges, weirs and reservoirs make for a genuinely mixed few days out, so whether you have an afternoon or longer, these are the places to visit near Sheffield.
