Walking

The West Pennine Moors offer fantastic opportunities for everyone to enjoy walking and rambling in the countryside; whether it’s a short family stroll round a reservoir, a ten-mile tramp over the moors or an ‘all-access’ routes for ‘trampers’.

Public Footpaths and Walks Information

The area has a well-developed public footpath network across much of the area and can be enjoyed by using the OS Explorer Map 287 – West Pennine Moors. Also, a range of downloadable walk leaflets is available below and more are available to pick up from local Information Centres.

Open Access Land

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 has also opened up large areas of upland for walkers seeking a wilder experience. A leaflet advising on using ‘Open Access’ land within the West Pennine Moors is available to download on this site and from Lancashire Countryside Service and local Information Centres.

Witton Weavers Way

The Witton Weavers Way, a 32-mile long-distance walk, explores much of the West Pennine Moors’ industrial history. The circuit can be completed in 2 days, or can be split up into 4 shorter walks. Downloadable circuit or walk leaflets are available below.

‘All-Ability’ Routes

A number of bridleways and footpaths within the West Pennine Moors have been adapted to allow access for people with mobility difficulties, making them ‘all-access’ routes. In addition, a number of routes are open to ‘tramper’ vehicles (a type of all-terrain mobility scooter), which provides even greater access to the countryside. Routes developed as ‘all-access’ routes have been developed at Entwistle Reservoir, Sunnyhurst Woods, Darwen Moor and Calf Hey Reservoir.

Walk Leaflet Downloads

Please note that some of these files are very large and may take a long time to download. A 500kb size file will take approximately 1 and a half minutes to download on a 56kbps dial-up modem.

Darwen Tower/Sunnyhurst Wood

• Darwen Tower Walk 1 in PDF format (933kb)
• Darwen Tower Walk 2 in PDF format (462kb)
• Sunnyhurst Wood in PDF format (251kb) 

Witton Weavers Way

• Beamers Trail in PDF format (402kb) 
• Reelers Trail in PDF format (331kb)
• Tacklers Trail in PDF format (479kb)
• Warpers Trail in PDF format (386kb)

Belthorn & Hoddlesden

• Belthorn Heritage Trail in PDF format (1,391kb)
• Blackburn East Rural Walks Booklet in PDF format (2,061kb)

Jumbles, Wayoh and Entwistle

• Edgworth Heritage Trail in PDF format (2,229kb)
• Jumbles RIGS Landscape Trail in PDF format (601kb)

Tockholes & Roddleworth

• North Tockholes Heritage Trail in PDF format (1,473kb)
• South Tockholes Heritage Trail in PDF format (2,278kb)

Helmshore & Irwell Vale

• Walks for Health No.5 Irwell Vale River Walk in PDF format (220kb)
• Walks for Health No.9 Helmshore Viaduct and Mill in PDF format (210kb)
• Walks for Health No.52 Helmshore Viaduct and Park Road in PDF format (221kb)
• Walks for Health No.56 Irwell Vale and Strongstry in PDF format (235kb)
• Walks for Health No.93 Haslingden Grane in PDF format (218kb)

Useful contacts for walking in the West Pennine Moors:

Walking Groups

Manchester and District Walkers www.madwalkers.org.uk