The organisation is a branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), whose purpose is "to promote and encourage for the benefit of the public the improvement and protection of the English countryside and the better development of the rural environment".

[1] The area covered by the branch includes: the Peak District National Park; the Derbyshire High Peak; the parishes of Barlow, Holmesfield, Dronfield, Eckington, Unstone and Killamarsh in the North East Derbyshire District Council and the Metropolitan Districts of Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster.

[2][failed verification] The charity began as the Sheffield Association for the Protection of Local Scenery in 1924 (founded by Ethel Haythornthwaite) and became a branch of the Council for the Preservation of Rural England representing Sheffield and the Peak District in 1927.

In 1938, the branch was instrumental in establishing the Sheffield Green Belt, the first in the country; in 1951, the Peak District became the UK’s first National Park.

[5] In 2020, the charity decided to revert to being known as CPRE Peak District and South Yorkshire and to only retain the Friends of the Peak District brand for the Boundary Walk.