Best walks from Romiley

Romiley Station to Glossop Station

Great countryside with stretches along the GM Ringway, a country park and farmland. Some sections are overgrown and difficult underfoot with roots and a felled tree, there are a lot of stiles and particularly leading into Higher Chisworth. Follows part of the GM Ringway and passes through Etherow Country Park, whose café provides good respite. Expect cows and horses in fields.

Tough: steep ascents. 14km.

An angry free-roaming Alsatian at Ernocroft Farm means it is best to skirt around the farm rather than go through it. The GM Ringway section from Romiley to Etherow Country Park is overgrown in parts and difficult underfoot with roots and a felled tree blocking the path; there are also many stiles.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route

Romiley Station to Hyde Central Station

Lovely views. After an initial urban section, an almost entirely rural canal towpath walk forming the majority of the route, with a wooded slope down to the River Tame. The surface is crushed limestone and packed earth and a good width but worn to muddy puddles in places. There are two canal tunnels and several cobbled bridges. Mostly accessible for pushchairs and cycles with care, though there are steps at the Hyde access points.

Easy: 5km, moderate ascents.

Woodley Tunnel runs for several hundred metres with uneven, often wet paving underfoot; a torch is recommended. Access to the towpath from Hyde involves steps and a cobbled slope, and the busy A57 here is difficult to cross.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route

Romiley Station to Marple Station

one of my favourite walks; the locks along the way are in an especially lovely setting. A short, mainly canal-towpath route along the Peak Forest Canal, with a short detour over Hyde Bank tunnel, taking in two centuries of transport history. Quiet residential roads and lanes at the start (stones, earth, can be muddy), a long set of steps up to the towpath and a stony unsealed section past Hyde Bank Farm. The Peak Forest Canal fell into disuse and was restored for leisure use, reopening in 1974.

Tough: steep ascents. 4km.

A long set of steps up to the canal from Vale Road (narrow, with a handrail). The towpath can become very muddy in wet weather and is slow to dry. The detour over the tunnel is not accessible.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route

Stockport Station to Romiley Station

A green, fairly direct route over undulating ground between Stockport and Romiley, using quiet back streets to reach the parks, then mostly park pathways and the broad, gravel-surfaced Alan Newton Way. Almost entirely on smooth and compacted or paved surfaces; rougher with small boulders and potholes near Middle Farm. Avoids the flights of steps on the other Stockport-Romiley routes, making it largely step-free; follows National Cycle Route 55. Passes through a working farm, so keep dogs leashed and follow signage.

Easy: 7km, moderate ascents.

Lunch: A cafe in Vernon Park is a short walk off the path.

End-of-walk reward: the Duke of York.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route

Hazel Grove Station to Romiley Station

A mixed-surface route on the fringe of Greater Manchester with a country feel: definitive paths, roadside pavements and unrecorded paths, descending under the canal into the Goyt valley and through Chadkirk country park. Steep and cambered woodland paths with exposed tree roots; some wet and boggy field sections after rain. Passes Chadkirk Chapel, which has seats and a well-tended garden, and an aqueduct carrying the canal. The woods are full of wild garlic in spring.

6km.

Crossing Dooley Lane is a challenge with no pelican crossing; cross onto the grass verge and use the old road behind the closed pub. A couple of steep, scrambly woodland paths, slippery when wet.

Lunch: A few shops in Hazel Grove near the end.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route