The village is overlooked by the ringed cliffs of Stanage and Millstone edges and the ancient iron-age hill fort of Carl Wark, and the distictive Higger Tor can be seen through a break in the cliffs, standing on Burbage Moor.
The village is built largely from blocks of the yellow-brown local Millstone Grit and sits at the foot of a side-valley at one side of the wide Hope Valley. One of the nicest examples of this construction is the George Hotel in the centre of the village..
Robin Hood’s cave overlooks the village from its position in the face of Stanage Edge, with breathtaking views.
Directly below the church hill is the Scotsman’s Pack, and old Packhorse inn. Hathersage lay on the old packhorse trail between Manchester and Sheffield and pack trains climbed out of the valley either up The Dale past the Scotsman’s pack, or up past Gatehous to Stanage Pole following the route of the old Roman Road. In the 18th century, the turnpike road (now tha A625) was constructed, replacing the packhorse trade. Much of the early prosperity of the village came from this trade route as it was the last stop before the long (and dangerous in winter) haul over the high (1700ft) moors into Sheffield.