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.
Shocked motorists were forced to swerve as an elderly motorist drove more than five miles the wrong way around the M60 motorway, before crashing.