The Bollin Valley Way is a 25-mile (40-km) recreational path shadowing the course of the River Bollin through northeast Cheshire and the edges of Manchester and Trafford boroughs. Giving walkers a feel of the valley’s variety, the walk takes in fields and woodlands, towns and villages, passes around Manchester Airport and finishes close to the historic Manchester Ship Canal. The Way acts as a spine to the valley linking many local places of interest in one walking route.
Sections of the Bollin Valley Way can also be incorporated into shorter circular or linear walks. The walk can be broken easily at Ashley and Wilmslow train stations. Like the Macclesfield end of the trail, these lie outside the TfGM network but offer regular services to Manchester and other destinations.
The route and facilities available along the way are shown in the leaflets that can be downloaded from the linked Bollin Valley Partnership page. In addition, the GPS Routes web page for the Bollin Valley Way includes online maps and a GPX file for the trail. Many sections of the trail are equipped with excellent signposting.
Accessibility and facilities
While individual sections may be accessible, the varied terrain along the route makes the overall Bollin Valley Way unsuitable for wheelchair-users and families with pushchairs.
There are a few public toilets en route (for example at Dunham Massey), though some sections without facilities. However, the trail gives access to several local pubs, cafés. The leaflets give details of services available locally.
How to get there
The Bollin Valley Way could be walked in either direction and broken into sections using the information provided in the links shown on this page. We list the start point as Partington (within Greater Manchester). This is connected with the rest of Trafford and with Manchester city centre by bus. We therefore give the end point as Riverside Park, Macclesfield. Note that the GPS Routes web page and other resources reverse these start and end points.
To work out how to get to and from the walk start and end points, simply click the Google Maps links on this page. Then click ‘Directions’ and enter your postcode or location in the relevant field. For public transport options, click the train icon.
