Dozens of drivers were forced to avoid the man as he travelled anti-clockwise in the right hand lane between Cheadle and Trafford Park on Monday evening.
His red Ford Fiesta collided with two vehicles before crashing. The man, who is in his 80s, suffered minor injuries.
Driver Gemma Ecclestone said: "It was pretty scary."
The road was shut between Trafford Park and Carrington for more than an hour as police investigated the collisions.
Greater Manchester Police tweeted: "Male who drove the wrong way on the M60... Luckily all minor injuries!".
Driver Gemma Ecclestone tweeted: "Just had to narrowly avoid an old man driving up the wrong way of the M60. Hope he's going to be okay."
She told the BBC she was in the fast lane travelling back home from the Lake District when she saw "this little red car driving towards me".
"Fortunately I was able to get into the middle lane and out of the way. I was really shocked," she said.
"All the cars were trying to swerve and people were all trying to get out of the fast lane and over to the middle lane and so they were nearly hitting each other.
"I don't think the driver knew he was going the wrong way. He seemed fixated on the road. Other cars were flashing him and he was just carrying on."
"I was really worried the whole way home, for him and also he may have hit someone."
Another motorist, Nathan Fearn, said: "I was just travelling towards Stockport and had overtaken someone and I moved back into the middle lane.
"About 30 to 40 seconds later I saw an elderly white man with an old fashioned coat, and I think a cap on, driving towards me in the far right lane I had just moved from.
"I thought I was seeing things and going crazy. He was driving a red ford fiesta. I was scared for the driver he had obviously lost his senses. I beeped my horn to warn other drivers and phoned the police. They told me others had phoned in."
The elderly driver was admitted to hospital with minor injuries.

Nelson Cheung and his wife Winnie, 57, had been driving along the Caddy Road, near Randalstown, on Wednesday when their car was forced off the road.
The couple, from the Ballymena area, were attacked and had money stolen. Mr Cheung died from stab wounds.
Police have renewed their appeal for information. A 30-year-old man is being questioned about the murder.
A 31-year-old woman and a 29-year-old man who were arrested on Thursday have been released unconditionally.
Det Ch Insp Eamonn Corrigan said: "Mr Cheung was a well-liked and well-known man who ran a Chinese restaurant in Randalstown."
He said that while Mrs Cheung had been discharged from hospital, she was "understandably anguished following the murder of her husband".
After their car was forced off the road by two other vehicles, Mrs Cheung had managed to raise the alarm at a nearby house just after midnight on Thursday.
When police arrived at the scene a short time later, they discovered Mr Cheung's body. Police have said a hate crime is not suspected.
The detective said: "I would appeal for information from the public, specifically anyone who saw vehicles moving along Caddy Road between 11:30pm on Wednesday night and 1pm on Thursday morning.
"I am also interested in speaking with anyone who may have noticed a black Seat Toledo car, registration number OE62 FRF, in the Randalstown area from around 9pm to midnight on Wednesday 7 January."
The Caddy Road has now been reopened following the murder.
Shocked motorists were forced to swerve as an elderly motorist drove more than five miles the wrong way around the M60 motorway, before crashing.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
Police have released the name of a 65-year-old Chinese restaurant owner murdered in County Antrim.