Walks you can reach from Congleton by train

Spectacular views. Wild landscape of deep valleys and gritstone peaks and studded with peat bogs and pine forests. Buxton developed as a fashionable spa in 18th-19th centuries using profits from Dukes of Devonshire's copper mines. Macclesfield granted borough charter for market in 13th Century.

Time: 5h30–10h30

Warnings: Stiles; busy road with no pavement and fast traffic.

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Similar walk: Walk Midlands (inc. GPX).

Reverse direction: Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

Steep residential roads, rolling pastures, quarried hilltop, moorland edges, forest, isolated chapel, reservoir, long ridgeline and canal towpath.

Time: 7h

Warnings: Steep ascents.

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Pavements and Trent & Mersey Canal towpath, with steep steps over the canal bridges, finishing beside Westport Lake.

Time: 3h

Warnings: Steep steps over the canal bridges.

Walk details: North Staffordshire Community Rail Partnership (tips and turn-by-turn directions).

Recommended: A direct, almost entirely flat waterside route along the Trent and Mersey Canal towpath. Surface varies from good bonded gravel to loose stone and with cobbled ramps at the roving bridges and a stepped bridge near Stone station. Generally dry with only the odd puddle after rain.

Waterway: almost all along the Trent & Mersey Canal.

Time: 3h30–6h30

Lunch: A pub and supermarket at Barlaston and a filling-station shop at Trentham roughly halfway.

Warnings: The towpath is a traffic-free cycle route shared with cyclists who can approach fast with little warning. A stepped footbridge over the railway at the Stone end and steps at road crossings.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Recommended: A majorly off-road, easy-to-follow walk following the Bollin Valley Way nearly all the way, with steep steps at the Macclesfield end and increasingly marshy ground nearer Wilmslow. Well-marked with gates and steps and infrastructure in good condition. Follows the Bollin Valley Way.

Waterway: four fifths along the River Bollin.

Time: 3h–6h30

Lunch: Prestbury has a pizzeria and pub.

End-of-walk reward: Macclesfield has shops and pubs.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Mostly Trent and Mersey Canal towpath, with a woodland-and-road section over the hill around Harecastle Tunnel through Bathpool Park. The canal offers great variety, passing industrial relics and modern development and with steps at the Kidsgrove end and some shallow mud but a lot of good surfaces.

Waterway: four fifths along the Trent & Mersey Canal.

Time: 3h–6h

Warnings: Crossing the road in Kidsgrove needs care — no proper crossings, just raised road sections. Steps from Kidsgrove station car park to the towpath. The towpath is shared with the 555 cycleway and is narrow in places.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Stunning National Trust Lyme Park. A rapid change from town to country, with a road climb out of Poynton before reaching open Peak District country. The eastern half is characteristic Peak walking with hill views, gorse and sheep pasture, rocky farm tracks and many stiles; the western half is gentler, mostly narrow woodland paths winding through farms and beside streams. A short section of disused railway path and canal towpath and with occasional deep mud around gateways. Passes through the National Trust's Lyme Park. Uses a short section of the Middlewood Way, a disused railway now a multi-use route.

Time: 3h30–6h30

Lunch: Lyme Park (National Trust), roughly mid-route, has facilities.

Warnings: A footpath near Hagg Farm has been closed since 2022 due to a dangerous footbridge and is expected to stay closed until at least June 2026; continue along the Middlewood Way to the next bridge and rejoin via the canal towpath. Two higher-speed road crossings near Lyme Park need care. Stiles and ladder stiles throughout, and watch for nettles. Can be muddy.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A delightful walk along canal towpath and through pastures and woods, much of it under tree cover, with farm tracks and stiles and occasional steps. The access to the canal at New Mills is steep. The northern edge of Lyme Park can be visited via a detour. Uses the Macclesfield and Peak Forest canals.

Time: 2h30–5h30

Lunch: Local shops and pubs in Disley mid-route.

Warnings: A mixed herd of cattle at Barlow House Farm needs care, especially with dogs. The gate at the Red Lane end of Lyme Park is locked at closing time and may be shut without warning in high winds; check National Trust opening times.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A lovely hilly stroll across fields, down some lanes and with a couple of main roads. The ground is decent underfoot in dry conditions.

Time: 4h30–8h30

Walk details: Slow Ways.