See also Places to Visit

Walks / Cycle Rides / Beauty Spots / Good Places to Visit

Manchester and surrounding area

  • Highfield Country Park, Levenshulme
  • Reddish Vale, Reddish
    • in quick cycling distance of Levenshulme
    • contains a viaduct, woodland walks, river, paddling spots, cycle paths, community garden, community petting farm
    • you can get in one end from Reddish, and the other end from the mill by Portwood motorway roundabout in Stockport
    • there’s a lovely cycle track that joins both ends through the forest
  • Goyt Valley, Cheshire
  • Winter Hill, Bolton
  • Daisy Nook, Oldham
  • Healey Dell, Rochdale
  • Dovestones Reservoir
  • Hollingworth Lake
  • East Lancs Railway
  • Peel Tower and The Shoulder of Mutton, Ramsbottom
  • Ribblehead Viaduct
  • Werneth Low (forest + water + visitors centre - near Marple)
  • Chadkirk Chapel - near Marple. Cafe, walled garden, beautiful walks from there to canal, river and surrounding countryside.
  • Peak Forest Canal - goes from Chadkirk Chapel to Marple. You can get up to it by following the path up through the woods behind Chadkirk Chapel.
  • Clayton Vale (river plus forest plus beautiful walks and cycle track - one end is adjacent to Phillips Park near Etihad stadium, the other end is on the way to Oldham)
  • Phillips Park (near Etihad stadium, there’s a nice route there along the canal)
  • Cycle track that goes from Debdale reservoir to the canal - really green and leafy and surprisingly long (and from the canal you can cycle along the canal to Phillips Park and Clayton Vale - the towpath is pretty bumpy in places though)
  • Path along the edge of Debdale reservoir, then keep going and it goes along a whole other stretch of water - eventually if you turn left at the end you get to the very end of the Fallowfield Loop cycle track, beyond Wright Robbie.
  • Tobacco Hills, near Liverpool (recommended by S Leighton)
  • Heysham, Morecambe Bay - cliff walk and ruined chapels (recommended by S Leighton)
  • Beaumont Park, Huddersfield - gothic victorian overgrown park
  • Pickmere lake in Cheshire - gentle wild swimming (recommended by Doug)
  • Creswell Crags / Cresswell Crags - near Sheffield - can book tour of cave paintings - has nice little museum

Peak District

  • Ashbourne
  • Thorpe
  • Nine Ladies stone circle, Stanton Moor
  • Bakewell
  • Matlock Bath
  • Lathkilldale
  • Ashford in the Water
  • Dovedale
  • Tissington
  • Shining Cliff
  • Monsaldale
  • Edale / Mam Tor / Castleton

Yorkshire

  • Malham Cove and Gordale Scar

Rest of the UK