Castleton is surrounded by rock faces, with a huge cliff above Peak Cavern, large crags in Winnats Pass and a big rock face on Mam Tor.

Unfortunately all this rock is of very poor quality and often very loose (especially Mam Tor, which is known as the 'Shivering Mountain'), so there is little or no rock climbing in Castleton itself

However, there is an enormous range of excellent climbing close by, including most of the major gritstone edges of the Peak District and many of the limestone crags of the White Peak.

Stanage Edge - High Neb area

Limestone crags at Water-cum-Jolly

The most famous of the gritstone edges is Stanage, which has over 400 routes of all grades. Most weekends this is thronged with climbers of all abilities.

Froggatt, Millstone and other several gritstone edges are within easy reach, and there is more climbing of this type on the high edges of Kinder Scout.

The limestone crags of Ravenstor, Chee Tor, Ravensdale and Water-cum-Jolly are all within a short drive and offer a range of mainly harder routes.