Peak Wildlife Park

About this place

Two polar bears on a hill farm at the edge of the Peak District: that is the surprise that lifts Peak Wildlife Park above the run of small country zoos. Nanook and Noori were born at Orsa in Sweden in November 2021 and moved here in August 2023, into a habitat of more than five acres of rough ground and deep pools, and watching them swim is what most visitors come for. The park's original idea, though, is older and simpler: rather than peering at animals over a fence, you step into their space. You walk into the Humboldt penguins' enclosure, into the ring-tailed lemurs' walk-through, and among wallabies and red squirrels with nothing between you and them. Be clear about the scale before you drive out. The site ran as Blackbrook Zoological Park from 1991, closed, and reopened under its present name in 2015, and it remains modest: two to three hours covers everything, including red pandas, meerkats, maneless zebra, arctic foxes, capybaras and a small African Village of pygmy goats, sheep and alpacas. Its strength is closeness, not quantity. Children between about two and ten are the ideal audience, and the park looks after them well, with a two-level indoor soft play and a large bouncy castle, both free with any ticket and worth their keep on wet days, a cafe serving stone-baked pizza, hot dogs, sandwiches and hot drinks, and baby-change rooms. The park describes itself as fully accessible, and the paths suit pushchairs, with the gentle gradients you would expect of a hillside. Most people drive. The park sits in the hamlet of Winkhill on the A523 between Leek and Ashbourne, roughly ten minutes from Leek, twenty from Ashbourne, twenty miles from both Stoke-on-Trent and Derby, and about an hour from Bakewell in the heart of the Peak District. Parking is free and right at the gate, and if you would rather not drive, the local Moorlands Connect bus service reaches the park. Booking online and picking an entry slot is the cheaper route, though the gate takes cash and card too; weekend and school-holiday prices run about two pounds higher than term-time weekdays. Spring and summer opening stretches to 18:00, autumn and winter close at 17:00, the park opens every day except Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and the weather up here is damp and blowy even in August, so pack waterproofs. The verdict: for a family staying in the Peak District or passing through Staffordshire with young children, it is a cheerful, unusual half day that justifies the ticket, especially if your children have never seen a polar bear. For a couple without children, or anyone weighing it against Chester Zoo an hour and a half away, Chester wins comfortably, and this stays a pleasant stop rather than a destination in its own right.