This mysterious tangled landscape of trees, rocky outcrops and steep cliffs is a sensational survivor of ?the wildwood? that once covered much of Britain. Yew, oak, ash and dying elm create a home for other plants and creatures. 10,000 years of wild growth in a deep gorge has created a place you can explore again and again.
Features of interest
The reserve covers 221 hectares of woodland and lowland grassland, where post-glacial melt waters have carved out some spectacular limestone cliffs and gorges.
The steep crumbling sides of the gorge are made of soft magnesian limestone.
The Dene is 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometres) long and is the largest of a series of valleys which run down to the coast between Sunderland and Hartlepool, reaching the sea at Denemouth.
Often there is no water at the bottom of the gorge, as Castle Eden Burn is now seasonal and disappears into the limestone rock during the summer.
Castle Eden Dene is home to an extraordinary variety of birds, more than 450 species of plants, and mammals including roe deer and fox.
Although the Dene itself it is not suitable for wheelchairs, Natural England has opened a new, short, easy access path that starts at the lodge car park. All paths can be muddy and slippery after bad weather.