The canal forms part of the Cheshire Ring cruising route. This term was first used by the Inland Waterways Association in 1965, when they initiated a campaign to ensure that all of the waterways that comprised the Peak Forest circular route should be retained. It was in response to the threat of complete closure of the Rochdale Canal, of which just a mile (1.6 km) is used to complete the circuit. At the launch of the campaign in July 1965, it was called the Cheshire Canal Ring, but the word "canal" had been dropped by November. The route comprises the Macclesfield Canal, the Hall Green Branch, parts of the Trent and Mersey Canal, the Bridgwater Canal and the Rochdale Canal, all of the Ashton Canal and part of the Peak Forest Canal. There are 92 locks on the ring, which is around long, and it can reasonably be completed in a week.