Lake District tops list of most popular place in Britain last year – according to routes data

Data scientists at Ordnance Survey have analysed the last 12 months of routes data captured by users of OS Maps app.

Walkers, cyclists, joggers, and equestrians shared their routes while using the app, which has given valuable insight into where the nation spent most of its time in the last year.

For the entire country, there were just under 2 million walking routes created in the year (with 1.2 million people creating circular routes and 800,000 walking from A to B). There were 256,000 running routes captured, 156,000 on road cycling routes, 135,000 off road cycling routes, 13,000 horse riding routes, and 12,000 paddling routes.

What became clear was how popular National Parks had been, with just under 900,000 routes captured in the 15 British National Parks alone.

The Lake District ranks top for popularity among National Parks with 278,000 routes created, with Peak District second with 144,000, and Yorkshire Dales third with 73,000.

Outdoor habits are back to pre-Covid levels and Britain’s national parks are honeypots for walkers, cyclists, joggers and horse riders to visit.

This is the first full year where the likes of the Lake District and Peak District National Parks were back to where they were with OS Map app users before the pandemic.

OS’s cartographers spent time creating a series of data visualisations for every National Park, displaying the most popular routes in each (as shown by the thicker lines on each map).

Outside of National Parks, popular locations included the Chilterns, Isle of Purbeck, parks across London and Bath and Bristol.

OS’s Managing Director for Leisure, Nick Giles, said: “The popularity for exploring the outdoors in Britain continues to expand year-on-year, which is wonderful to see, particularly with these new data visualisations we have produced – it’s always fascinating to see the routes alone with no mapping data underneath.

“Our aim has always been to make sure as many people as possible can enjoy getting outside in a safe, accessible way and have as much fun as they can.

“These illustrations, along with the routes data from OS Maps app that they are based on, are proof that trips out in the National Parks are one of Britain’s favourite ways to spend their leisure time.

“Over the past year we have made a number of enhancements that make using OS Maps easier, so it’s great to see so many people have been using it when out and about exploring the nation.”

15 National Parks in Britain by popularity

Lake District - Total routes (278,467)

Walking (230,539)

Running (21,705)

Off-road cycling (7,606)

On-road cycling (3,374)

Horse riding (225)

Peak District – Total routes (144,327)

Walking (120,729)

Running (9,671)

Off-road cycling (4,534)

On-road cycling (1,788)

Horse riding (339)

Yorkshire Dales – Total routes (73,744)

Walking (60,909)

Running (9,671)

Off-road cycling (4,534)

On-road cycling (1,788)

Horse riding (339)

Snowdonia – Total routes (64,940)

Walking (54,016)

Running (3,970)

Off-road cycling (2,217)

On-road cycling (943)

Horse riding (22)

South Downs – Total routes (53,009)

Walking (41,763)

Running (4,871)

Off-road cycling (2,666)

On-road cycling (1,340)

Horse riding (314)

Cairngorms – Total routes (50,239)

Walking (38,368)

Running (2,827)

Off-road cycling (4,150)

On-road cycling (736)

Horse riding (54)

Brecon Beacons – Total routes (50,089)

Walking (40,804)

Running (3,864)

Off-road cycling (1,632)

On-road cycling (787)

Horse riding (149)

North York Moors – Total routes (37,157)

Walking (29,291)

Running (3,070)

Off-road cycling (1,949)

On-road cycling (657)

Horse riding (222)

Dartmoor – Total routes (36,654)

Walking (30,659)

Running (2,447)

Off-road cycling (1,012)

On-road cycling (667)

Horse riding (103)

Loch Lomond and The Trossachs – Total routes (25,693)

Walking (19,980)

Running (1,082)

Off-road cycling (1,539)

On-road cycling (573)

Horse riding (8)

New Forest – Total routes (21,997)

Walking (15,750)

Running (1,440)

Off-road cycling (2,905)

On-road cycling (819)

Horse riding (241)

Exmoor – Total routes (15,213)

Walking (12,608)

Running (699)

Off-road cycling (704)

On-road cycling (296)

Horse riding (273)

Pembrokeshire Coast – Total routes (13,983)

Walking (11,650)

Running (987)

Off-road cycling (193)

On-road cycling (623)

Horse riding (25)

Northumberland – Total routes (11,189)

Walking (9,244)

Running (702)

Off-road cycling (405)

On-road cycling (239)

Horse riding (37)

The Broads – Total routes (2,374)

Walking (1,608)

Running (135)

Off-road cycling (1,012)

On-road cycling (667)

Horse riding (10)