Queen’s Park

Overview

Close to Bolton town centre, Queen’s Park was designed by William Henderson and opened in 1866. The park covers 22 hectares on a site that slopes down to the River Croal..

According to the Parks & Gardens website, “the site is roughly circular, with an entrance lodge and main entrance from Chorley New Road. The River Croal is to the south and west of the site and there are a number of irregularly shaped ponds or lakes as a feature of the site. There is a central walk with pavilion, and a system of interconnecting straight and serpentine walks around the site.”

This large Victorian town park is also home to a brand-new café and also contains a bowling green, football pitch, nature trail and playground.

While no specific walk is suggested, you can download a PDF map of the park from this page showing the main paths.

Accessibility

According to the GMAO (orienteering) website, there is access from the north car park to a “White” wheelchair-friendly orienteering course of 0.8 miles / 1.3 km, which goes round the garden areas and lakes. The site states that wheelchairs may need to be pushed in places as there are some slopes.

We understand that other paths within the park are also suitable for wheelchair users and families with pushchairs, but have not been able to verify conditions on site.

How to get there

Queen’s Park is just a short walk (0.6 miles / 0.9 km) west of Bolton town centre with its rail station and bus interchange.

To work out how to get to and from the walk start 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 on the train icon.

Alternatively, input the postcodes shown into the TFGM journey planner at https://my.tfgm.com/#/planner/