Bishop's Castle is situated in a part of England largely bypassed by modern development. South Shropshire and neighbouring Herefordshire are often cited as the most tranquil places left in England, yet are within relatively easy reach of the large cities in the West Midlands, the North West and South Wales.

The South Shropshire Hills are a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and provide excellent walking and cycling country with plenty of comfortable pubs to stop at along the way! To the west, over the welsh border, the land becomes higher and wilder, providing dramatic routes for the more seasoned hill-walker. The Offa's Dyke long distance footpath passes within a few miles of Bishop's Castle and the town is a popular stopping place for walkers following the path. Further east, the areas around the Long Mynd and the Stipertones are particularly associated with the early 20th century writer Mary Webb.

The landscape around Bishop's Castle is characterised by friendly green hills and dramatic rock outcrops, and the area boasts some of the most beautiful river valleys in the country. The Clun and Teme are famous, thanks in part to the poet A E Housman who loved this part of the world. The nearby River Camlad has the distinction of being the only river to flow westwards from England into Wales.

South Shropshire possesses some of Britain's most complex and fascinating geology, and it is this which has helped shape the distinctive landscape of this beautiful area.

Close to Bishop's Castle, The Stiperstones are the area's best-known landmark, a bleak bare ridge topped with jagged outcrops of hard angular quartzite. Their brooding presence on the skyline has inspired poets and writers, among them Mary Webb and D H Lawrence. The climb up to the stones is dramatic, with fine views over the surrounding countryside, extending to the Malvern Hills in the east and to Snowdon and Cader Idris in the west.

The Long Mynd, above Church Stretton is a long hog's back hill topped with peat moor and heather. The rocks forming the hill are a pre-cambrian, around 650 million years old, and among the oldest in the country. The dramatic drive over the Burway road from Church Stretton to Asterton provides excellent views over Caer Caradoc and the Lawley to the east, and over Bishop's Castle, the Camlad Valley and into Wales to the west.

Further east again is Wenlock Edge, famed for its literary and musical associations with Housman and Vaughan-Williams. This 20 mile straight wooded ridge overlooks the Corvedale and the gentler country towards Shrewsbury. The well-known landmark of The Wrekin lies at its north-western end, separated by the dramatic gorge at Ironbridge where the river Severn slices through the limestone.

Other prominent hills to the east include the Clee Hills, with Brown Clee at over 1900 feet being the highest place in Shropshire. Bury Ditches, about 5 miles south east of Bishop's Castle is an iron age hillfort overlooking the town, and the Clun valley to the south.

West of Bishop's Castle, the hills become higher and more numerous. This is sheep country. The Kerry Ridgeway; the ancient route to Montgomery and beyond, overlooks Churchstoke and the Camlad valley. The route of the drovers' road is marked by frequent plantings of groups of Pines.