Birk Crag, Cardale Wood & Oak Beck

Good for: Birds, Butterflies, Insects, Wildflowers

A steep, wooded valley, with outcrops of millstone grit at the top. The rocky Oak Beck flows in the valley floor. Predominantly deciduous woodland with a diverse range of shade loving plants and bryophytes.

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Parking

Car Parks at RHS Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate. Alternatively, at the western end of Kent Road, Harrogate

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Access

Follow the public bridleway (a continuation of Crag Lane) from RHS Harlow Carr. From Kent Road, cross Cornwall Road and follow the public footpath; or, for Oak Beck, follow Cornwall Road downhill to the bridge, where there is another footpath.

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Terrain

Steep, uneven paths with protruding roots and rocks, and (around Oak Beck) areas of mire. Unsuitable for those with limited mobility.

Habitat:

Rock outcrops, Stream, Woodland

About the location

There is an impressive display of Bluebells in the spring. Skunk Cabbage and Purple Toothwort grow on the banks of the beck; these are alien species, probably dispersed from RHS Harlow Carr. This is one of only two sites in the UK where the Chestnut Click Beetle is known (the other is in the Isle of Wight). The oak trees hold good numbers of the cryptic Purple Hairstreak butterfly. Oak Beck contains Brown Trout and Bullhead, and was once a stronghold of the native White Clawed Crayfish (nowadays probably displaced by the invasive American Signal Crayfish). Woodland birds include various tits, warblers and woodpeckers, along with Tawny Owl, Tree Creeper and Nuthatch.