Four Counties Ring Route and Map

The epic Four Counties Ring navigates 110 miles of mostly rural canals through four counties

Passing through 94 locks in around 55 hours, this popular waterway odyssey takes canal boat holiday-makers through the counties of Staffordshire, the West Midlands, Cheshire and Shropshire.

It’s possible to navigate the Four Counties circuit in a week, but taking 10 days or two weeks allows more time for visiting attractions along the way.

The route travels sections of the Trent & Mersey, Staffordshire & Worcestershire and Shropshire Union canals.  Highlights include: the World famous 2670-metre long Harecastle Tunnel; extravagant cuttings and embankments on the Shropshire Union; Market Drayton home of the gingerbread man; the Wedgewood Pottery Visitor Centre; views of the rolling Cheshire Plains; the Roman town of Middlewich; the Ski Centre, China Gardens and Waterworld at Etruria; the National Trust’s Shugborough Hall; Churches Mansion; the waters at Tixall Wide; and the flight of 15 locks at Audlem.

The Four Counties Ring can easily be accessed from Drifters’ bases at Autherley, Great Haywood, Stoke on Trent, Gailey, Brewood or Bunbury.