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Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales
Photograph by Nick Turner, Alamy
At Brecon Beacons National Park in southern Wales, hikers navigate a rocky gorge in the park’s Waterfall Country, which features steep, wooded gorges—with falling water from the Mellte, Hepste, and Nedd Fechan Rivers—and plenty of opportunities for exploration along local trails.
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Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales
Photograph by Stephen Dorey, Alamy
A narrow boat negotiates the Brynich Lock on the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal in Brecon Beacons National Park. Public boat trips and canoeing are among the activities available in and around the canal, once an industrial artery that now runs through the center of the modern park.
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Cairngorms National Park, Scotland
Photograph by Ashley Cooper, Aurora
Hikers cross a snowy plateau in Cairngorms National Park in Scotland’s high country. The largest national park in Great Britain, Cairngorms is Scotland’s skiing center, featuring four of its five highest peaks.
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Cairngorms National Park, Scotland
Photograph by Photolibrary
A female snow bunting shelters from the wind behind an ice-encrusted boulder in Cairngorms National Park. The park is home to 25 percent of the U.K.’s threatened birds, animals, and plants.
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Dartmoor National Park, England
Photograph by Wig Worland, Aurora
A mountain biker rides a trail in England’s Dartmoor National Park. The park’s atmospheric moorland, wooded ravines, and waterfalls attract hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts.
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Dartmoor National Park, England
Photograph by Marc-Oliver Schulz, laif/Redux
Known as the “Cathedral on the Moor,” St. Pancras Church is located in the village of Widecombe-in-the-Moor in Dartmoor’s picturesque East Webburn Valley.
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Dartmoor National Park, England
Photograph by Philip Fenton, Photolibrary
Bennett’s Cross is one of the many ancient upright markers scattered across Dartmoor National Park. The cross is a stop on some walking tours, a popular activity for visitors.
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Exmoor National Park, England
Photograph by Sam Abell, National Geographic
Exmoor ponies romp the high moors of Exmoor National Park, located in southwest England. Horseback riding, cycling, walking, and climbing are among the park’s popular activities.
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Exmoor National Park, England
Photograph by Adam Burton, Getty Images
Thatched-roof cottages characterize the medieval village of Dunster, among the largest of Exmoor’s villages and hamlets and one of the park’s most popular attractions. Visitors can explore Dunster’s ancient castle, tea shops, and surrounding countryside.
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Exmoor National Park, England
Photograph by Jon Gibbs, Photolibrary
A path winds along the Valley of Rocks on the Exmoor Coast near the village of Lynmouth, made famous by a disastrous flood in 1952. The coast’s dramatic beauty has drawn poets and writers, including Robert Southey and Percy Bysshe Shelley.
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Exmoor National Park, England
Photograph by Michael McQueen, Getty Images
A walker traverses Exmoor’s hills in autumn. The park features more than 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) of footpaths. Bridleways accommodate horseback riders and cyclists.
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Lake District National Park, England
Photograph by Fantuz Olimpio, SIME
Visitors to Lake District National Park paddle a canoe across Wastwater, England’s deepest lake at 243 feet (74 meters). Covering about one percent of all the land area in Great Britain, the Lake District is England’s largest national park and, as its name suggests, offers plenty of opportunities to get one’s feet wet.
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Lake District National Park, England
Photograph by Fantuz Olimpio, SIME
Sheep graze in one of the Lake District’s valleys, known as “dales” in the region, a linguistic holdover from the area’s 10th-century Norse settlers. Hills, stonewalled fields, forests, whitewashed cottages, and clear waters are among the park's charms.
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Lake District National Park
Photograph by Jon Allison, Photolibrary
The Lake District boasts a rich cultural heritage that spans the centuries from prehistoric times to the present day. The region’s charms have long attracted notables from across the isles and throughout British society. Literary legend William Wordsworth even published a Guide to the Lakes in 1810.
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Northumberland National Park, England
Photograph by David Paterson, Getty Images
A portion of Hadrian’s Wall edges the landscape in Northumberland National Park. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the Roman wall extends across the countryside for 73 miles (117 kilometers).
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Peak District National Park, England
Photograph by Michael Preuss, My Shot
Sheep wear splashes of Easter color in the Peak District, the first national park established in Great Britain. About 86 percent of the park is farmland, which is used mostly for grazing sheep or cattle.
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Peak District National Park
Photograph by John Warburton-Lee Photography, Photolibrary
Horses roam a field in Peak District National Park. Once largely in the hands of wealthy landowners, the park remains mostly privately owned. A highlight for sightseers includes Chatsworth, the stately country home to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and a historic showplace of architecture, art, and lush landscape gardens.
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Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, Scotland
Photograph by Tom Mackie, Alamy
Great Britain’s biggest freshwater lake, Loch Lomond is one of four sections of the Trossachs, an appealing belt of hills and lochs stretching across the border between Scotland’s Lowlands and Highlands. In addition to Loch Lomond, the park is home to nearly two dozen large lochs, many smaller lochs, and more than 50 flowing rivers.
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Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, Scotland
Photograph by Jose Maria Mellado, Getty Images
Walkers have countless opportunities in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs. Also popular with visitors and locals are water-based activities such as sailing and fishing. In addition to its many lochs, the park boasts 39 miles (63 kilometers) of salty sea loch coastline.
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Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Wales
Photograph by Suranjan Mukherjee, My Shot
Puffins stand out against the green grass of Skomer Island off the coast of Pembrokeshire. The park’s offshore islands were named by the Vikings, who cruised the coast between the eighth and tenth centuries.
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Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Wales
Photograph by David Pickford, Getty
A climber tackles the limestone cliffs above the sea near St. Govan’s Head on the Pembrokeshire Coast. While water dominates the park landscape, Pembrokeshire is also a spectacular place for walkers to stretch their legs along dozens of Wales’s best beaches, headlands, bays, cliffs, and scenic seaside towns.
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Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Wales
Photograph by Spila Riccardo, SIME
Visitors ride horses on the beach in Druidston Haven on the Pembrokeshire Coast. The only truly coastal park in the U.K.’s national park system, Pembrokeshire stretches along the southwestern shoreline of Wales.
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Snowdonia National Park, Wales
Photograph by C. Millington, Photolibrary
Hikers in Snowdonia National Park seek out the popular Cader Idris mountain range, where three maintained paths encourage walking. Nine mountain ranges cover fully half of Snowdonia with a breathtaking array of jagged peaks, gorges, and windswept uplands.
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Snowdonia National Park, Wales
Photograph by Win Initiative, Getty Images
More than 90 mountains in Snowdonia National Park top 2,000 feet (600 meters), including Tryfan, pictured here. The tallest, at 3,560 feet (1,085 meters) is Yr Wyddfa.
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Snowdonia National Park, Wales
Photograph by Alan Novelli, Alamy
Commissioned before A.D. 1230, Dolbadarn Castle in Snowdonia National Park features the best surviving example of a Welsh round tower. It sits on a mount above the village of Llanberis.
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South Downs National Park, England
Photograph by Dave Porter, Photolibrary
The Seven Sisters chalk cliffs along the English Channel are part of South Downs, England's newest national park. The ancient chalk hills are the geological star of South Downs, which covers about 1,000 miles (1,625 kilometers) along England's southeast coast.
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The Broads, England
Photograph by Dutton Colin, SIME
The largest wetland in Great Britain, The Broads has miles of wide waterways popular with boaters. Six rivers link the Broads' shallow lakes, creating a lock-free, navigable system of waterways.
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The Broads, England
Photograph by Jon Gibbs, Photolibrary
Crumbling into ruins, a tower mill and a gatehouse mark the spot of St. Benet's Abbey beside the River Bure in the Broads. The abbey was originally constructed in the tenth century; the mill was added in the 1700s.
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Yorkshire Dales National Park, England
Photograph by Michael Freeman, Aurora
Stone barns and walls break up the green of Arkengarthdale, the northernmost dale in Yorkshire Dales National Park. The dales for which the park is named are deep valleys carved out of the hill country by eons of running rivers.
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Yorkshire Dales National Park, England
Photograph by Robbie Shone, Aurora
The cavern known as Gaping Gill drops 365 feet (111 meters) at the base of Ingleborough mountain in Yorkshire Dales National Park. According to the Park Authority, the Dales area has some 2,000 caves and potholes.
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Yorkshire Dales National Park, England
Photograph by Britain on View/Photolibrary
Regular commuters, sheep take to the road in Yorkshire Dales National Park, England. Dry stone walls mark lanes and fields in the rambling park, which has 250,000 acres (100,000 hectares) of open access land.
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