Walks you can reach from Rainhill by train
MapA day hike is just a simple train journey away — plan your next day of green.
St Helens Central Station to Lea Green Station (Lancashire)
3m direct from Rainhill.
A short town-to-town route: leaves the centre on a tarmac canal towpath, climbs onto higher ground, crosses a retail park and then takes a tarmac track and an earth-and-stone path that can be wet and muddy through Sherdley Park before broad park paths lead to the station.
Easy: 4km, moderate ascents.
Foot-only route due to the footpath into Sherdley Park; a road near Grove's Dam is prone to flooding though passable on foot.
Lunch: Plenty of shops and places for refreshment in the retail park mid-route.
Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route
Prescot Station to Lea Green Station (Lancashire)
3m direct from Rainhill.
A mostly uninteresting road walk with one short footpath section. Almost entirely accessible and with the odd stretch lacking ramps or low pavements.
Easy: 5km, gentle ascents.
Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route
St Helens Central Station to Newton-le-Willows Station (Lancashire)
15m direct from Rainhill.
A superb, mostly off-road walk along the historic St Helens/Sankey Canal towpath (tarmac or metalled earth) through peaceful countryside and with the canal a string of pools and reedbeds. Largely accessible to wheels and cycles with some width restrictions and sometimes stony or muddy surfaces; one steep tarmac climb and a stepped footbridge at Earlestown. Follows the St Helens/Sankey Canal, passing the Sankey Viaduct (George Stephenson's monument, the first major railway bridge in the world), old locks, and the 'Mucky Mountains' spoil heaps of the former vitriol works, now reclaimed by nature. Stations at both ends with working lifts.
10km.
Crossing the railway at Earlestown uses a stepped footbridge, making the route foot-only.
Lunch: Shops, pubs and eateries at both ends.
Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route
Newton-le-Willows Station to Warrington Central Station (Lancashire)
15m direct from Rainhill.
A route with urban ends and a pleasant rural middle, following the Sankey Canal through good countryside. Surfaces range from tarmac cycle track to unmade, muddy and grassy paths; access gates and steps make it mostly foot-only and parts are liable to flood after heavy rain. Follows the Sankey (St Helens) Canal, considered England's first industrial canal, with remnants of locks along the way; much of the route is a designated cycle route. Free car park at Newton-le-Willows station.
Easy: 10km, gentle ascents.
Parts can flood after severe rain; several muddy sections, access gates, steps and kissing gates. A couple of road crossings at each end.
Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route
Urmston Station to Eccles Station (Lancashire)
30m direct from Rainhill.
A mostly road-based walk rather than off-road and good for a summer day.
Easy: 5km, gentle ascents.
Lunch: Shops along the way for refreshments.
Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route
Swinton (Manchester) Station to Eccles Station (Lancashire)
30m direct from Rainhill.
A quick, direct route from one high street to another and mixing estate streets and public footpaths with a large newly-laid path through a park. The rough footpath surfaces are well lit and reasonably safe.
Easy: 3km, moderate ascents.
Where the route reaches the busy A580 East Lancs Road, a well-lit underpass a short distance away is a safer crossing than the route as drawn.
Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route
Eccles Station to Salford Crescent Station (Lancashire)
30m direct from Rainhill.
A decent urban route, mostly on pavement past shops, with a gradual uphill section and a stretch through Buile Hill Park on wide tarmac paths. Generally accessible and though pavement parking and informal crossings can hamper passage.
Easy: 5km, moderate ascents.
Lunch: Many shops along the way.
Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route
Manchester Oxford Road Station to Levenshulme Station (Lancashire)
45m direct from Rainhill.
A direct urban route mostly on pavements through residential streets, passing interesting architecture and small parks and avoiding the busiest roads. Mostly flat and easy underfoot. Passes the Victoria Baths and Elizabeth Gaskell's house, and near the Alan Turing statue and Chinatown Arch; good bus links and shops en route.
6km.
Lunch: Lots of places to stop along the way.
Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route
Salford Crescent Station to Manchester Oxford Road Station (Lancashire)
45m direct from Rainhill.
A largely off-road, well-paved city walk through Peel Park and a lengthy stretch following the River Irwell, before climbing into central Manchester via ginnels, squares and pedestrianised streets. Surfaces are tarmac or tightly packed throughout and but several flights of steps make it a foot-only route. Heron and cormorant can be seen along the Irwell. Peel Park is claimed to be the world's first public park.
0km.
Multiple flights of steps. Some passages (notably the gated, glass-atrium passage near the Central Library) are closed at night, so it's best done in daylight. Continual city-centre building works can impede progress.
Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route
Manchester Oxford Road Station to Gorton Station (Lancashire)
45m direct from Rainhill.
An urban canal-side walk following the Rochdale and Ashton canals out of the city centre, then a green cycleway. Towpath is largely flat and paved and but some sections are cobbled and there are steps at the canal access. Passes the Etihad Campus and Co-op Live Arena; the later cycleway follows the course of the former Stockport Branch Canal.
Easy: 7km, moderate ascents.
There are steps from Oxford Street down to the canal. The path where the route leaves Lees Street by Gorton station can be very overgrown; a minor diversion via Beeth Street and Barrass Street is better.