Peak District walks you can start from the van

The walks below start at a car park or a visitor centre you can drive a van to, and most are short enough for a winter afternoon. They come from the National Trust and Severn Trent, which publish the routes, and each is mapped in the book.

Distances and times are the operators' own: the National Trust, Severn Trent. Each walk name links to its free GPX route.

Pick by the light and the legs. Padley Gorge is an hour, finishing at the Longshaw cafe, which is the Trust's own suggestion for a cup of tea at the end. The Derwent Dam Trail shows you the dam that, as Severn Trent puts it, the 'Dambusters' made famous, with toilets and a cafe at the start. Mam Tor is the classic: from Mam Nick up onto the Great Ridge and round, with the Hope Valley on one side and the Vale of Edale on the other.

In daytime, at most of the car parks the walks start from, if you get there early. The Trust says the car parks around Castleton and Edale fill by 9am at weekends and in the school holidays. Mam Nick, the start of the Mam Tor walk, is very small: if it is full, the Trust says, come back later or use another car park. Non-members pay through the JustPark app, £6 for up to four hours and £8 all day, and Trust members park free.

In the Upper Derwent, Severn Trent's car parks at Fairholmes and Heatherdene charge £3.50 for two hours, £6 for up to four and £7 for longer. The road past Fairholmes closes to cars on Sundays, and on summer Saturdays and bank holidays, so a weekend visit means starting from Fairholmes itself.

Two roads to avoid. Winnats Pass, the steep way between Castleton and Edale, is unsuitable for caravans and motorhomes, the Caravan and Motorhome Club says, so plan the run another way. And for the Castleton Club site, follow the Club's own directions for the last part rather than the sat nav, because the roads are unsuitable for towing. The single-track lane will always be narrower than the map suggests, and the passing place will always be behind you.

Not in the National Park's own car parks. The Peak District National Park Authority bans overnight parking and camping at all of its own car parks. The other owners each have their own rule:

• High Peak Borough Council lets coaches and motorhomes park overnight in the Edale and Castleton village car parks, but you must leave the vehicle: no sleeping in it.
• Derbyshire Dales District Council lets a van stay overnight in most of its car parks only if nobody sleeps or cooks in it.
• Severn Trent says no overnight parking in its Upper Derwent car parks, and its Carsington car parks close in the evening.
• Cheshire East says nobody may sleep in a vehicle overnight in its car parks.

So the night is spent on a campsite. That suits the way the book works: pitch for two to four nights at one base and walk from there, rather than moving the van every day.

Each of the book's six bases has campsites checked for size, hook-up, dogs and opening dates. For a winter trip, three stay open:

• Castleton Club Campsite (Caravan and Motorhome Club members only): 92 pitches, every one hard-standing, open all year, with a dog walk on site.
• Newfold Farm, Edale: an all-year campsite for caravans, campervans and motorhomes, by its own account, with hook-up on the van pitches and a cafe and bar.
• Wyming Brook Farm, near the eastern edges: open all year, with six hook-up points. It has no toilets, so bring your own.

Dale Farm at Great Longstone keeps a few winter pitches, and locks its gate from 10pm to 7am, so arrive in daylight. From spring, more sites open: Hayfield's Camping and Caravanning Club site from late March, the Carsington Water Club site in spring, and the two Dovedale farms from Easter and May. The Winter Campsite Index has the full winter list across all ten regions.

Four in the book are full days, and each wants an early start, a forecast and a paper map.

• Kinder Scout circular, 7.5 miles, 4 hours 30 to 5 hours 30 minutes. The Trust calls hill-walking kit essential. The Old Nags Head in Edale is at the foot of it for afterwards.
• The mass trespass walk, 8 miles from Hayfield, 5 to 6 hours. The trespassers of 1932 walked up the road; today, the Trust says, there are paths either side of the river.
• Howden and Slippery Stones, 10 miles past two reservoirs, with no short cut back across the water. Carry lunch.
• Ilam Park to Wetton, 10 miles over the hills from Dovedale, past the Royal Oak in Wetton.

In midwinter the sun sets at about 3.50pm in Edale, so these are walks for March to October. Our guide to winter walking and the short days has the sums for fitting a walk to the light.

Carsington Water. Severn Trent says most of its trails there are surfaced, and calls the mile-long Stones Island Trail accessible, suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs. The Dam Trail is three miles over the dam, which Severn Trent calls a bracing stroll, with gulls over the water and, if you are lucky, a kingfisher or water vole in the brook. The paths are shared with cyclists, so keep the dog close.

Lyme, the Trust's estate at Disley, is the other easy-day base: three short walks from the main car park, to the Cage, the Lantern and along Lime Avenue. On a clear day, the Trust says, you can see across to the centre of Manchester from the hill by the Cage.

On a properly wet day, go underground. The book lists Peak Cavern in Castleton, which takes dogs on a lead on its tours, and Treak Cliff Cavern, which takes dogs on a short lead. Poole's Cavern in Buxton is 25 minutes from Hayfield.

Yes, on almost all of them, with a lead for much of the way. Farm animals graze Mam Tor, so the Trust asks for dogs on a lead the whole way there, and there are no bins on the hill: the bags come home with you. Red deer graze the moor around Froggatt and Curbar, so lead on and give them room. On Kinder, birds nest on the ground, and the Trust asks for dogs on a lead at all times. Dovedale is a National Nature Reserve: dogs on a lead there and wherever there is livestock.

One piece of Trust advice is worth knowing before a walk through cattle: if cattle take an interest in a dog on a lead, it is often best to let the dog off to run free. And on the Derwent valley walk, the Trust warns of gates and stiles: plan the lifts if your dog is a big one.

Most of these walks finish at or near one, and the book names them from the operators' own route notes.

• Edale: the Old Nags Head, at the foot of Kinder, and the Rambler Inn, which the Edale circular passes.
• Longshaw: the Fox House, about 200 metres from the visitor centre, and the Grouse Inn, about halfway along the Froggatt and Curbar walk.
• Dovedale: the Izaak Walton Hotel, close to the stepping stones walk, and the Royal Oak at Wetton on the long day.
• Carsington: the Miners Arms, just north of the water.
• Hayfield: the Pack Horse and the George, at the end of the Kinder Reservoir circuit.

Opening hours change with the season, especially in winter. Ring before you count on food, and check whether the dog is welcome inside.

Every walk in the table links to its own page, with the distance, the climb, the operator's time and a free GPX file you can load into a walking app or GPS. It is the same line as the map in the book. Carry the OS Explorer map as well, especially for the Dark Peak walks, and charge the phone before you set off: the moor tops are not the place to find it flat.