Old wooden bridleway sign on a track high in the Peak District

National Park facts and figures

Physical facts and figures

Land area covered by National Parks:

England: 10 National Parks cover 9.3% of the land area

Wales: 3 National Parks cover 19.9.% of the land area

Scotland: 2 National Parks cover 7.2% of the land area

Internationally: 113,000 National Parks and similarly protected areas cover approximately 6% of the Earth's land surface, that's about 149 million square kilometres! (Source - IUCN - International Union for Conservation of Nature).

National Park name Area (sq kilometres) Highest point (metres) Coastline (kilometres) Main settlements
Brecon Beacons 1344 Pen y Fan - 886 0 Brecon, Crickhowell, Gilwern and Hay
Broads 305 Bath Hills - 12 2.7 Stalham, Wroxham, Brundall, Acle, Loddon, Beccles and Oulton Broad
Cairngorms 4,528 Ben Macdui - 1309 0 Aviemore, Ballater, Braemar, Grantown-on-Spey, Kingussie, Newtonmore, and Tomintoul
Dartmoor 953 High Willhays - 621 0 Ashburton, Buckfastleigh, Chagford, Moretonhampstead
Exmoor 694 Dunkery Beacon - 519 55 Lynton, Dunster, Porlock and Dulverton
Lake District 2292 Scafell Pike - 978m 23 Ambleside, Bowness, Coniston, Grasmere, Keswick
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs 1865 Ben More - 1174 58 Balloch, Callander and Tarbet
New Forest 570 Telegraph Hill - 167 42 Lyndhurst, Brockenhurst and Burley
Northumberland 1048 The Cheviot - 815 0 Haltwhistle, Bellingham, Rothbury and Wooler
North York Moors 1434 Urra Moor - 454 42 Helmsley and Thornton-le-Dale
Peak District 1437 Kinder Scout - 636 0 Bakewell and Tideswell
Pembrokeshire Coast 621 Foel Cwmcerwyn - 536 418 St Davids, Tenby and Saundersfoot
Snowdonia 2176 Snowdon - 1085 60 Aberdyfi, Dolgellau, Trawsfynydd and Beddgelert
South Downs 1624 Blackdown - 280 14 Arundel, Steyning, Lewes, Midhurst and Petersfield
Yorkshire Dales 1769 Whernside - 736 0 Grassington, Settle, Hawes and Sedbergh

Social and historical facts and figures

A scheduled ancient monument is a protected archaeological site or building that is of national importance.
Conservation areas are villages or towns with important architecture that is protected.

National Park name Year of designation Population Scheduled ancient monuments Conservation Areas Visitors a year (million) Visitor days a year (million) Visitor spend a year (million)
Brecon Beacons 1957 32,000 4.15 5 £197
Broads 1989 5,721 13 18 7.2 11.3 £419
Cairngorms 2003 17,000 60 4 1.5 3.1 £185
Dartmoor 1951 34,000 1208 23 2.4 3.1 £111
Exmoor 1954 10,600 208 16 1.4 2 £85
Lake District 1951 42,200 over 200 21 15.8 23.1 £952
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs 2002 15,600 60 7 4 7 £190
New Forest 2005 34,400 61 18 Not available 13.5 £123
Northumberland 1956 2,200 196, including 1 World Heritage Site 1 and 3 National Conservation Areas 1.5 1.7 £190
North York Moors 1952 25,000 846 42 7 10.7 £411
Peak District 1951 38,000 457 109 8.4 10.4 £356
Pembrokeshire Coast 1952 22,800 13 4.2 13 £498
Snowdonia 1951 25,482 359 14 4.27 10.4 £396
South Downs 2010 120,000 741 165 Not available 39 333
Yorkshire Dales 1954 19,654 203 37 9.5 12.6 £400

* Visitor numbers and visitor spend figures have been taken from STEAM reports, mostly from 2009. Figures updated on this page 3 June 2011.

Further information

The links below will take you to other websites for more information.

England

Wales

Scotland

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