National Dog Day: Five dog-friendly walks to enjoy around Manchester

It’s National Dog Day and what better way to mark it than getting out with your pooch for a good walk?

Fortunately Greater Manchester is blessed with plenty of ideal places to clip on a lead and stretch the legs of both you and your four-legged companion.

Here are five of our favourites:

Whitworth Park to Alexandra Park

Some of our dog-friendly routes are featured in Manchester’s Green Trail, a collection of 14 walks put together in a partnership between Manchester City Council, The Ramblers and Transport for Greater Manchester.

The trail showcases some of the green lungs of the city and puts together suitable routes to connect them.

This is one of them, and at two miles in length it is not too strenuous either on legs or paws.

It’s a largely urban walk which links together two beautiful green spaces, Whitworth Park and Alexandra Park.

Barlow Moor Road to Martinscroft Metrolink

This is another of the routes from Manchester’s Green Trail, and is slightly longer at 3.5 miles in length.

This is a good example of how much open space is on residents’ doorsteps.

Even though it has an urban setting it is a largely green route.

From the starting point on Barlow Moor Road it takes walkers through Kenworthy Woods and into Wythenshawe Park.

Manchester to Sale Water Park

The GM Ringway is a new walking trail for the city-region and this 6.6-mile walk is stage one of it.

It uses towpaths, walkways, parkland and the Trans Pennine Trail to trace a largely traffic-free and tranquil route from the city centre to the verdant Mersey Valley.

Highlights include Castlefield‘s industrial and transport-related heritage, the football and cricket grounds at Old Trafford and Longford Park, with its petting zoo, cafe and play areas.

This walk will take a few hours to complete in full.

Heaton Mersey Common

Heaton Mersey Common is a vital pocket of green space located just on the outskirts of the centre of Stockport.

It is home to a wide variety of wildlife and has a number of habitats for visitors to explore.

A network of paths wind through the site, allowing dog walkers to create a route between 0.3 and 1.3 miles long.

Reddish Vale Country Park

Located on the north-eastern edge of Stockport, Reddish Vale spans 161 hectares along the River Tame.

It provides a green corridor linking Stockport town centre with Reddish, Woodley and with Denton in Tameside.

The mill ponds are home to lots of water birds and eagle-eyed walkers may spot rarer wildlife including sand martins and kingfishers.

Trails vary in length from 0.5 to four miles long.

What you need to know

Dogs should be kept on leads while doing all these walks.

More canine-friendly routes can be found at https://gmwalking.co.uk/