Recreational uses of the area include walking, orienteering, horse riding, fell running, cycling, mountain biking, rock climbing, sledging and fishing.

[3][4] After the Norman Conquest it formed part of the Royal Forest of Macclesfield, a hunting reserve owned by the Earls of Chester.

[2] Quarrying was originally by hand, giving a high-quality product used for buildings, gravestones, kerbs, flagstones and cobbles, which was used as far afield as the Isle of Man.

[4][5][6] Blasting was introduced in the 1930s, producing crushed stone for roads and airfields, and during the Second World War, rock for runways was extracted using pneumatic drills.

[2][5] A collection of historical quarrying equipment is preserved within the country park, including a jaw crusher, crane and a stone saw, which was powered by a steam engine.

[2][3] The moorland is dominated by wood sage, heather and bilberry, while the meadows support a range of wild flowers including mountain pansy, tormentil and harebell.

[2] The broadleaved Teggsnose Wood covers the southern part of the hill, with oak, beech, hornbeam, holly and mountain ash.

[16] There are ten traditional climbing routes on the quarried gritstone, ranging in grade from Difficult to Mild Very Severe.

[18][19] At the northern viewpoint is a visitors' centre off the Buxton Old Road, which provides car and horse box parking, information, public toilets, picnic tables and a telescope.

[2][19] Nearby public houses are the Leather's Smithy by Ridgegate Reservoir and the St Dunstan in the village of Langley.