More than 250,000 walking guides, almost one every two minutes, were downloaded from the National Trust website in the last year. The figures have more than doubled compared to 2008 as more Britons seek out walking routes for days out or during weekends away.
Formby with its dramatic sand dunes and population of red squirrels was the most popular walk in the North West with 7399 downloads last year. The 4.5 mile woodland walk in Alderley Edge was the second most popular in the region with 5,828 downloads.
With over 130 different walks to choose from on the website The Bath Skyline walk topped the national walks chart at number one with 8741 downloads. In second place was Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire with its green open spaces, followed by Ashridge in the Chilterns.
Jo Burgon, Head of Access and Recreation at the National Trust, said: "The boom in the demand for walks in the last year has been incredible. We’re finding that more people want to get out into the great outdoors but often need to be pointed in the right direction."
Jo Burgon, added: "We've tried to cater for a wide range of walkers with everything from short circular routes to the more challenging hill walks."
All of the walks are free to download and include a map and things that you might see en route. Additionally a series of local walks can be downloaded from our forum and further walks from Wilmslow’s Graham Beech, author of "East Cheshire Walks", are available on wilmslow.co.uk.
