Manchester Ringway Trail

With 20 stages to explore, the Greater Manchester Ringway trail offers a huge variety of walking routes for strollers and seasoned hikers alike – and it’s a fantastic success story for our CPRE group.

We were key partners in the creation of the trail, working alongside The Ramblers (Greater Manchester and High Peak) and project lead Dr Andrew Read.

The Manchester Ringway route

The trail is a 200-mile footpath that follows the boundary of Greater Manchester through all 10 GM local authorities. It is split into 20 stages, each one between 9 and 14 miles, with many shorter walks included. Each stage is accessible by bus, train or tram. It’s proving a huge success, enabling many more people to get out of town and discover the fantastic hills and green spaces that are right on our doorstep.

Background to the Ringway

The idea for the GM Ringway was first conceived by Dr Read, who had realised that Greater Manchester – with its diverse landscapes and heritage – could benefit from its own multi-stage walking trail. Here at CPRE Lancashire, Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester we agreed. We then applied for and were awarded a £250,000 grant to develop and establish the GM Ringway as a permanent resource for the city region.

A small team then worked to develop the route, negotiate permissions and install the signage, as well as creating a useful app that takes walkers step by step through each of the different stages.

As the trail was launched, we recruited over 50 volunteer stage guardians to look after the route and helped create a new independent charity, the GM Ringway Association. The Association has now taken over the task of looking after the Trail for the long term.

Discover the Ringway for yourself

You can find all the information you need to plan a Ringway walk at gmringway.org