Maze Park Nature Reserve facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Maze Park
The north-eastern end of Maze Park Nature Reserve from the viewing hill
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Location	Middlesbrough, England
Area	42 acres (17 ha)
Operated by	Tees Valley Wildlife Trust
Website	teeswildlife.org

Maze Park is a special place in Middlesbrough, England. It's a nature reserve that covers about 42 acres (17 hectares). You can find it on the south side of the River Tees, where an old train yard used to be. The Teesside Development Corporation helped create this park. Today, the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust takes care of it. The reserve is shaped like a narrow triangle, with the River Tees on one side and old train tracks on another.

What You Can See and Do

Maze Park is mostly made up of wild grasslands. Here, you can find many different kinds of plants, including herbs and broad-leaved plants.

Viewing Hills and Paths

The park has three special hills that were built to give you amazing views. From these hills, you can see the beautiful "Green Blue Heart" of the Tees area. This is a great spot to take photos!

A path called the Teesdale Way runs through the reserve. It follows the side of the River Tees. This path is perfect for walking or cycling. If you're on a bike and want to stop, there are cool metal bike racks shaped like butterflies where you can park your bicycle.

Art and Information

You'll also find a hanging butterfly sculpture in the park. It's on the side of one of the viewing hills. There's an information board in the park to help you learn more about the area. More information boards are planned for the future.

The western end of Maze Park is close to the Tees Barrage. You can easily get to the park from there. On the other side of the River Tees, you'll find another nature reserve called Portrack Marsh Nature Reserve.

Plants and Animals

Maze Park Nature Reserve is home to many different plants, insects, and birds. The soil here is special because it has a lot of "slag" in it. This makes it a perfect place for plants that like to grow in limestone and chalky areas.

Amazing Plants

Some of the plants you might see in the reserve include bird's foot trefoil, common centaury, rocket, St John's wort, and yellow-wort.

Students from a local school even helped plant more wild flowers here. These included viper's bugloss, greater knapweed, salad burnet, and selfheal.

Cool Insects

Keep an eye out for various insects flying or buzzing around! You might spot a damselfly, a dingy skipper butterfly, or even a grasshopper. Other butterflies like the grayling and ringlet also live here. You could also see a six-spot burnet moth or a small copper butterfly.

Wonderful Birds

Many different birds either nest in Maze Park or visit it regularly. Look and listen for birds like the blackcap, common chaffinch, grasshopper warbler, and grey partridge. You might even be lucky enough to see a kingfisher, a sand martin, a skylark, or a sparrowhawk.