(S/E) Follow the waymarked white cycle route to the Gruffalo sculpture, turn left and follow the broad track to a crossroads at the top of a rise (post 56), at which you turn left on the White Moor Trail.
(1) Bear right at a junction, then cross the railway bridge. Turn right at post 55 and follow the main track to recross the railway, beyond which turn right, on a track that follows the railway for a short distance before curving away to the left. At a junction, turn left and follow the obvious track out to the road.
(2) Turn left and follow the road up and downhill for a mile to Brine’s Brow car park, passing under a railway bridge halfway along. At Brine’s Brow, go straight on and follow Delamere Road for ¾ mile, mostly downhill.
(3) At the T-junction with the B5393, turn right and climb the short steep hill past the Catholic Church up to the Goshawk. From the Goshawk, walk uphill and over the railway bridge. Keep along the B5393, passing the turning to Dunham-on the-Hill and then Moss Lane on the left.
(4) When the B-road bends left at a crossroads, follow the road straight on (New Pale Road). At Manley Common, when the road bends left, follow the left-hand of two paths ahead (Sandstone Trail). On reaching Delamere Forest, turn left. The next quarter-mile can be muddy or rutted, and is the most technically challenging section of the route. If necessary, dismount and walk until the surface improves. Having descended to a stream, climb to a T-junction and bear left. At the next junction (post 40), turn left. From here as far as step 21, follow the white bicycle waymarks.
(5) At the next T-junction (post 36), turn right and follow a long straight track for a third of a mile, crossing the Sandstone Trail partway along (post 35). The track swings left before a flooded hollow (post 34) and curves right and left between further similar hollows. Keep left on the obvious track at post 33.
(6) At a T-junction (post 32), turn right and continue to the next junction (post 31), where you turn left, away from the nearby metalled road. Keep right on the larger track at post 30 and follow its winding course, bearing right at post 29 and then right again at post 28.
(7) Cross the metalled road and continue along the track on the other side.
(8) When Blakemere lake comes into view, turn right and follow the track that skirts the marshy tail of the lake, keeping left at every opportunity. At post 61, bear right to reach the Gruffalo sculpture at a crossroads.
(9) For Linmere Lodge Visitor Centre, keep straight on, then turn left at post 66 to cross the railway and then bear left, and return by the same route; otherwise, to continue without visiting Linmere Lodge, turn in front of the Gruffalo sculpture.(S/E)
