In this paper we study a subfamily of a classic lattice path, the \emph{Dyck paths}, called \emph{restricted $d$-Dyck} paths, in short $d$-Dyck. A valley of a Dyck path $P$ is a local minimum of $P$; if the difference between the heights of two consecutive valleys (from left to right) is at least $d$, we say that $P$ is a restricted $d$-Dyck path. The \emph{area} of a Dyck path is the sum of the absolute values of $y$-components of all points in the path. We find the number of peaks and the area of all paths of a given length in the set of $d$-Dyck paths. We give a bivariate generating function to count the number of the $d$-Dyck paths with respect to the the semi-length and number of peaks. After that, we analyze in detail the case $d=-1$. Among other things, we give both, the generating function and a recursive relation for the total area.