Ripley’s biggest
Pit Top
Park or garden
21 ha (52 acres)3.8 km of path
50 minto walk all 3.8 km of path
30 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Ripley
Ripley GreenwayRope Walk
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0BOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Ripley · parks, paths & countryside
91% of Ripley’s residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
104 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 3.7 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Ripley add up to 2.4 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Ripley grades B for the outdoors: #30 of 59 in Derbyshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
2.4 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
91%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
104 km
3.7 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Peak District National Park
Outdoors grade
Ripley grades B for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Ripley, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
B
Better than 61% of UK towns#30 of 59 in Derbyshire · 29th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space2.4 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
56out of
100
100
A park within a walk91%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
69out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths3.7 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
76out of
100
100
The sea0%of the area within 5 km · Inland
42out of
100
100
Graded, never part of the overall grade (like History and Civic life). It measures what is mapped: OS Open Greenspace leaves out woodland and open-access land that isn’t a park, and OpenStreetMap’s rural paths are more complete in some places than others.
Towns its size
Ripley is 29th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 19,000 to 21,500 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Outdoors score: the share of UK towns each one beats
Footpath, km per km²
Ripley3.7
Towns its size3.6
Derbyshire towns3.6
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Ripley2.4
Towns its size2.1
Derbyshire towns2.2
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Ripley91%
Towns its size84%
Derbyshire towns86%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Ripley stands out most for park space per resident: only 26 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Camborne Cornwall | A+ | 2.2 | 93% | 4 | 8% |
| 2 | Dronfield Derbyshire | A+ | 3.2 | 97% | 5.3 | 9% |
| 3 | Littlehampton West Sussex | A+ | 2.1 | 99% | 3.1 | 18% |
| 4 | Buxton Derbyshire | A | 3.5 | 86% | 3.8 | 61% |
| 5 | Faversham Kent | A | 2 | 88% | 3.5 | 24% |
| 6 | Hebburn Tyne and Wear | A | 6.6 | 99% | 5.8 | 0% |
| 7 | Quedgeley and Hardwicke Gloucestershire | A | 2.1 | 99% | 4.7 | 21% |
| 8 | Farnham Surrey | A | 5.1 | 73% | 4.3 | 35% |
| 9 | Hazlemere Buckinghamshire | A | 2.5 | 81% | 4.7 | 68% |
| 10 | Forest Town Nottinghamshire | A | 6.4 | 94% | 5.7 | 0% |
| 11 | Leek Staffordshire | A | 4.2 | 83% | 3.6 | 19% |
| 12 | Stratton St Margaret Wiltshire | A | 3.3 | 82% | 5.1 | 5% |
| 13 | Keynsham Somerset | A | 2.1 | 95% | 4.6 | 11% |
| 14 | Harwich Essex | A− | 1.7 | 95% | 2.1 | 20% |
| 15 | Peterlee County Durham | A− | 2.3 | 85% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 16 | Workington Cumbria | A− | 3 | 97% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 17 | Dukinfield Greater Manchester | A− | 4 | 95% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 18 | Ebbw Vale Gwent | A− | 2 | 92% | 3.3 | 29% |
| 19 | Rothwell West Yorkshire | A− | 3.4 | 91% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 20 | Mansfield Woodhouse Nottinghamshire | A− | 2.8 | 94% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 21 | Devizes Wiltshire | A− | 1.8 | 91% | 3.2 | 38% |
| 22 | Kirkby-in-Ashfield Nottinghamshire | B+ | 3 | 93% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 23 | Belper Derbyshire | B+ | 2.4 | 94% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 24 | Hythe and Dibden Purlieu Hampshire | B+ | 0.8 | 49% | 4.4 | 44% |
| 25 | Sandhurst Berkshire | B+ | 5.1 | 79% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 26 | Hazel Grove Greater Manchester | B+ | 2.9 | 62% | 4.2 | 3% |
| 27 | Brownhills West Midlands | B | 11 | 80% | 2 | 2% |
| 28 | Mirfield West Yorkshire | B | 2.5 | 90% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 29 | Ripley Derbyshire | B | 2.4 | 91% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 30 | Irlam Greater Manchester | B | 3.1 | 95% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 31 | Penwortham Lancashire | B | 2.9 | 91% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 32 | Ely Cambridgeshire | B | 2.7 | 88% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 33 | Stanley County Durham | B | 1.7 | 88% | 5.2 | 0% |
| 34 | Old Trafford Greater Manchester | B | 2.5 | 79% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 35 | Dorchester Dorset | B | 1.6 | 78% | 2.9 | 53% |
| 36 | Stourport-on-Severn Worcestershire | B | 3.1 | 79% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 37 | Romsey Hampshire | B− | 1.2 | 82% | 4.5 | 2% |
| 38 | Ware Hertfordshire | B− | 2 | 81% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 39 | Bingley West Yorkshire | B− | 2.1 | 80% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 40 | Calne Wiltshire | B− | 1.3 | 88% | 2.4 | 33% |
| 41 | Berkhamsted Hertfordshire | B− | 1 | 69% | 3.6 | 56% |
| 42 | Staines-upon-Thames Surrey | B− | 3.4 | 67% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 43 | Wednesbury West Midlands | B− | 2.7 | 93% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 44 | Dereham Norfolk | B− | 1.8 | 90% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 45 | Failsworth Greater Manchester | C+ | 1.8 | 77% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 46 | Clevedon Somerset | C+ | 1.1 | 69% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 47 | Sunbury-on-Thames Surrey | C+ | 2 | 79% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 48 | Bideford Devon | C+ | 0.9 | 83% | 1 | 11% |
| 49 | Knowle and Dorridge West Midlands | C+ | 2.7 | 82% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 50 | Spennymoor County Durham | C+ | 2.1 | 84% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 51 | Thornton Lancashire | C | 2.1 | 71% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 52 | Horwich Greater Manchester | C | 1.8 | 67% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 53 | Maghull Merseyside | C− | 1.6 | 86% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 54 | Skegness Lincolnshire | C− | 0.9 | 58% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 55 | Willerby and Anlaby East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 1.6 | 46% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 56 | March Cambridgeshire | C− | 1.7 | 87% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 57 | Selby North Yorkshire | C− | 1.6 | 81% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 58 | Goole East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 1.7 | 81% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 59 | Stamford Lincolnshire | D | 1.3 | 64% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Tiverton Devon | D | 1.5 | 59% | 2.6 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Ripley’s built-up area.
Green space: parks, gardens, playing fields and play spaces, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · Contains OS data © Crown copyright · Natural England / NRW
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Ripley
The biggest is Pit Top, 21 ha (52 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
All 4 named parks by size: 25 ha (62 acres) and 5 km of path
Parks & gardens 24 haPlaying fields 0.6 ha
The two biggest, Pit Top and Crossley Park, are 92% of the named green space and carry 5 km of path between them. 3 of the 4 are under 2 ha: small gardens, play spaces and pitches.
Crossley Park
Park or garden
1.7 ha (4 acres)0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Ripley Greenway
Park or garden
1.4 ha (3 acres)0.4 km of path
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi northfrom the centre
Ripley Greenway
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Marehay Park
Playing field
0.6 ha (2 acres)0.1 km of path
1 mi southfrom the centre
Playground
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
How close Ripley’s homes are to a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).
Within 400 m (91%)Further (9%)
Ripley91%
Towns its size84%
Derbyshire towns86%
All UK towns83%
About 2,000 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 45 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 449 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Peak District National Park is 7.5 mi away
Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the built-up area; circle size shows each one’s area. National Landscapes were called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty until 2023.
National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts
Peak District National Park covers 1,438 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
7 waymarked walks pass through or near Ripley
104 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Ripley and the kilometre around it, 3.7 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
LocalOther waymarked
Amber Valley Routeway Walk 46.7 km
Cromford Canal Footpath5.2 km
Amber Valley Routeway Walk 85.0 km
Amber Valley Routeway Walk 212.8 km
Amber Valley Routeway Walk 52.5 km
Amber Valley Routeways Walk 110.8 km
Amber Valley Routeway Walk 180.4 km
Close to home, the Amber Valley Routeway Walk 4 has 7 km of local walk within 2 km of the town.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
When to get out
The best walking months in Ripley: May to September
The town’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.1 | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 16.9 | 16.4 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.6 | 7.6 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 17 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 68 | 54 | 50 | 54 | 53 | 69 | 64 | 64 | 60 | 78 | 79 | 78 |
March is the driest month (50 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 79 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 48 nights a year. The climate in Ripley →
Things to do
45 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK town its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
The nearest beaches
Ripley is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
The Beach15 mi from Ripley’s edge
DirectionsGood to know
Check the water before you swim. The Environment Agency tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.
Every named place, with directions
Nature reserves 1
Red River Local Nature Reserve1.9 ha · 0.4 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 45
Cromford View Parkin town
DirectionsMarehay Park Play Areain town
DirectionsLoscoe Denby Lane Play Area0.2 mi from town
DirectionsVictoria Ave Playarea1.0 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 41 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Golden Valley Caravan Park0.4 mi from town
DirectionsNext door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
Somercotes and SwanwickHeageIronvilleDenby BottlesJacksdale and WestwoodAmbergateRipley
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ripley | B | 2.4 | 91% | 0% |
| Somercotes and Swanwick 2.1 mi | B+ | 3.6 | 95% | 0% |
| Heage 2.1 mi | C | 1.9 | 78% | 0% |
| Ironville 2.3 mi | B | 1.6 | 100% | 0% |
| Denby Bottles 2.6 mi | B | 1.4 | 100% | 0% |
| Jacksdale and Westwood 3.0 mi | A− | 2.7 | 100% | 0% |
| Ambergate 3.0 mi | B+ | 2.4 | 100% | 0% |
Jacksdale and Westwood, 3 miles away, grades A−, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Ripley
What is the biggest park in Ripley?
Pit Top, 21 ha (52 acres), with 3.8 km of path. Crossley Park (1.7 ha) is second. 4 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Ripley near a National Park?
Yes. Peak District National Park begins 7.5 mi north-west of the town’s edge. It covers 1,438 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
What are the best walks near Ripley?
7 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Amber Valley Routeway Walk 4, Cromford Canal Footpath and Amber Valley Routeway Walk 8. Pit Top alone has 3.8 km of path.
What is the nearest beach to Ripley?
The Beach, 15 mi from the edge of the town. Ripley itself is inland.
How many people in Ripley live near a park?
91% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical UK town is 83%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Ripley?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Ripley good for walking?
For paths, yes: 3.7 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 76% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 56% (2.4 ha per 1,000 residents).
How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?
From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Landscape within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Ripley’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Ripley’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Footpaths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik, 16 October 2026.
- Historic parks, listed buildings and monuments: Historic England, National Heritage List for England, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
- The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: ONS Census 2021 output areas.
- Grade: TownRatings’ Outdoors Grade, ranked against UK towns only.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.