Peak District is the best National Park in the world to unwind

Derbyshire’s jewel in the crown of green spaces has beaten The Joshua Tree National Park in California and Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego to claim the crown.

Researchers measured the heart rates of participants a total of 2,118 times, when viewing images from the 66 most popular national parks to reveal the destinations that create the largest calming effect.

An average heart rate of 71.2 beats per minute were recorded in those looking at images from the Peak District, which was the first of Britain’s 15 national parks.

Home to many filming locations including the Pride and Prejudice and Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, the Peak District National Park welcomes around 13 million visitors per year.

Six of the UK’s national parks made the top ten in the study commissioned by YESSS Electrical, creators and suppliers of sensory light tool Visualite.

According to a YouGov survey by The Mental Health Organisation, 73% of UK adults said that connecting with nature has been important in terms of managing their mental health, 70% agreed that being close to nature improves their mood, and 49% said being close to nature helps them to cope with stress.

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