Garbutt Wood Nature Reserve

With fantastic views and varied habitats Garbutt Wood is an excellent reserve for a family day out or for nature enthusiasts with facilities nearby provided at the Sutton Bank National Park Centre. The reserve's location offers spectacular views of the Vale of York, nestled between the towering Whitestone Cliff and Gormire Lake, which provides a breeding site for great crested grebe.

Species of interest on this reserve includes summer migrant birds including warblers, pipits, flycatchers and redstart. The reserve is also great for spotting butterflies including small heath, ringlet, green hairstreak and holly blue. Whilst the boulder-strewn slopes of Garbutt Wood create many micro-habitats for ferns, mosses and lichens little is able to grow due to dense strands of bracken. However in May bluebells break through providing a carpet of colour for visitors to admire.

Mature oak and birch dominate the wooded landscape, with an under storey of regenerating rowan, holly, hazel and young oak replacing ageing birch. Sadly the once present elm trees succumbed to the Dutch elm disease, a fungal disease spread by the elm bark beetle which has killed more than 25 million trees in the UK. In the north-west of the reserve there is an impressive range of flora including the common-spotted orchid, ragged-robin and common valerian. On the exposed cliff edge, yet another habitat at Garbutt Wood, common rock-rose and lady’s bedstraw can be found.

Management on this reserve is mostly concerned with keeping in check bracken and sycamore growth which is often particularly aggressive.

Directions

The reserve is situated below the landmark of Sutton Bank, just north of the A170 Thirsk-Scarborough road and six miles east of Thirsk. It is just within the North York Moors National Park. The most convenient and dramatic way to approach the reserve is from the National Park Visitor Centre at the top of Sutton Bank, where there is ample parking.
From the Centre, follow the Cleveland Way north, taking the sloping path down the escarpment at the Nature Trail sign. A Trail Guide can be purchased from the Visitor Centre. Access is possible from the north-west corner of the reserve via Thirlby, but parking is limited.