Historically, in the county of Lancashire, it now lies in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria.

[1] Attractions include extensive mountain bike trails and one of the Go Ape company's tree-top adventure courses.

[4] The fighter pilot Franz von Werra was initially held there, and also made one of the many escape attempts for which he is known.

[4] Another well-known prisoner was Otto Kretschmer, Germany's most successful U-boat captain until his capture.

An interactive woodland nature trail themed around the children's book Zog was installed at Grizedale in 2019.