Saltholme

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Address
RSPB Saltholme, Seaton Carew Rd, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough TS2 1TU, UK
Grid ref
NZ506231
What3Words
jumped.slime.traps

If you're new to birdwatching, Saltholme is the perfect place to start. These family-friendly wetlands have a helpful visitor's centre, hides and screens which let you get up close to water rail, yellow wagtails and terns, plus a family discovery zone, cafe, play area and accessible trails.

Plan your visit

Opening times

  • Nature reserve: open daily
    9.30am-4pm, 1 November-31 March.
    9.30am-5pm, 1 April-31 October.
  • Car park: open daily
    9.30am-4pm, 1 November-31 March.
    9.30am-5pm, 1 April-31 October.
  • Visitor Centre: open daily
    9.30am-4pm, 1 November-31 March.
    9.30am-5pm, 1 April-31 October.
  • Shop: open daily
    10am-4pm, 1 November-31 March.
    10am-4.30pm, 1 April-31 October.
  • Café: open daily
    9.30am, last orders 3.15pm, 1 November-31 March.
    9.30am, last orders 3.30pm, 1 April-31 October.
  • Toilets: open daily
    9.30am-4pm, 1 November-31 March.
    9.30am-5pm, 1 April-31 October.

Festive opening times

  • Christmas Eve: nature reserve, visitor centre, shop, café and toilets closed.
  • Christmas Day: nature reserve, visitor centre, shop, café and toilets closed.
  • Boxing Day: nature reserve, visitor centre, shop, café and toilets closed.
  • New Year’s Eve: nature reserve, visitor centre, shop, cafe and toilets open, 9.30am-3pm, café last orders 2.15pm.
  • New Year’s Day: nature reserve, visitor centre, shop, café and toilets open, 10.30am-4pm, café last orders 3.15pm
  • All other days in the festive period are open our usual winter opening hours as above.

Entrance charges

Free entrance to RSPB members
Yes
Adults
£4
Children
£2 (5-17 years)
Free entrance for first child
Free entrance for under 5s
Student
£3
Free entrance for carers
Yes
Other discounts

Entry fees to the nature reserve apply for non-members but if you are visiting  the cafe and/or shop only, it is free.

Entry fees apply to all buses, mini buses and those travelling by public transport or on foot.

Facilities

  • Visitor centre
  • Car park
  • Toilets
  • Accessible toilets
  • Baby changing
  • Pushchair friendly
  • Café
  • Picnic area
  • Binocular hire
  • Guided walks
  • Viewing point
  • Nature trails
  • Shop
  • Educational facilities
  • Play area

Accessibility

How to get here

By train

The nearest railway station is in Middlesbrough, with trains from York, Whitby, Newcastle and Leeds. The connecting bus service to Saltholme is the number 1 from Middlesbrough (towards Hartlepool, High Tunstall).

By bus

The nearest bus stop is outside the entrance to Saltholme, on the Seaton Carew Rd. The Number 1 stops here and is run by stagecoach in Hartlepool.

By road

Saltholme is 10 minutes from the A19. Turn East off the A19 north of Stockton along the A689. After half a mile, take the A1185; in 4 miles join the A178 at a mini roundabout and take the 3rd exit. The reserve entrance is 250 metres on the right-hand side.

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Other ways to get there

Saltholme is connected to the extensive network of cycleways around Stockton and Middlesbrough. There is a cycle track across the reserve to the visitor centre that is accessed through Port Clarence and is open during reserve opening hours.

Get directions from Google Maps
View on What3Words
RSPB reserves on Google Earth

Information for dog owners

Sorry, dogs are not permitted at Saltholme, except assistance dogs, due to the sensitive wildlife and habitats here.

We know that the countryside is a dog walking paradise. It’s important to remember the special surroundings here are wonderful havens for rare wildlife. Even if dogs are very well behaved, wildlife can easily become startled by a dog they perceive as a predator.

Disturbing wildlife does more than simply causing it to move away; it uses up their energy, decreasing their chance of survival regardless of season. Thank you for protecting the special wildlife by not exercising your dog here.

  • Other exciting dog walking routes are available to enjoy in the local area.
  • Dogs die in hot cars, please do not leave your dog in the car when visiting us.

Group booking information

We welcome group bookings. Please contact us by phone or email to arrange your trip. 

Schools booking information

For full details on our exciting programme of curriculum-linked outdoor education sessions, visit our school trips information. 

“Incredible” and “educational” are just two of the word’s schools have used to describe their visit to Saltholme.

The industrial landscape of Teesside provides the perfect backdrop to a memorable day of learning outside the classroom. Our hands-on experiences allow exploration of minibeasts and their habitats, food chains and adaptations in real life.

We have a number of programmes to choose from for a half or full day visit from Early Years, to Primary and Secondary school and A-Level.

We also welcome bookings from uniformed groups and can tailor your visit to suit your needs.

For further questions, or to book email schoolbookings@rspb.org.uk.

Also, check out our fantastic range of resources for teachers, or take on the Schools’ Wild Challenge. 

Downloads

Helping you find your way around. PDF, 131Kb

Saltholme trail map

Contact Saltholme

Save nature with a staycation in the UK

Family arriving at a Travel Chapter cottage

Saving the nature that you love for future generations to enjoy. Make the most of your visit by staying in one of thousands of handpicked cottages across the UK. Simply book your stay here to support our partnership. Throughout 2021 holidaycottages.co.uk are supporting our conservation work – saving species and restoring habitats right across the UK at a time when the future of our planet has never been more important and protecting nature for future generations.

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What will you see?

Our star species

Recent sightings

Tees Transporter bridge distant in background, Saltholme RSPB reserve, Teesside.

Find out about recent wildlife sightings at Saltholme.

read more

Nature spectacles

In Autumn and Winter, enjoy the spectacle of many hundreds of wildfowl grazing our wet grassland.

Large numbers of starlings roost in our reed beds and we often enjoy dramatic murmurations as they drop into the reed beds at night during November/December.

Spring and summer sees the return of favourite visitors, as sand martins once again fill the skies and our special nesting bank. Our ears are assailed with the sound of common terns and black headed gulls as they squabble and nest on our special cockleshell islands.

Let’s not forget the seals that swim up Greatham Creek, a tidal creek at the northern end of the reserve. Visible  throughout the year, depending on the tide, it's a fantastic sight - currently viewable with a live "seal cam" from the visitor centre.

At Saltholme there is always the chance of a bittern skulking in the reeds, a marsh harrier quartering the reed beds for a meal, a peregrine scaring every bird on the site or a water vole swimming along a ditch.

Seasonal highlights

In March and April, lapwings can be seen performing their weird and wonderful displays and starting to nest on the grassland. Loads of sand martins and swallows return to Saltholme and spend their time skimming across the pool surfaces, catching insects. At the start of May, common terns begin to return to nest on the cockleshell islands.

Visit Paddy's Pool Hide and Saltholme Pools Hide to see the stripy, fluffy young great crested grebes riding around on their parents' backs. You'll love the enchanting sight of our young ducklings, such as gadwall, pochard, tufted duck, shelduck and mallard.

Autumn sees migrant wading birds, such as black-tailed godwit, ruff and green sandpiper continue to pass through. A few rarities such as curlew sandpiper, little stint, spoonbill, pectoral sandpiper and lesser yellowleg, might just be seen as they stop off for short periods on their migration. Huge, shimmering flocks of golden plovers and lapwings arrive to spend winter with us and can be seen around pool edges and on grassland.

Waders and wildfowl such as golden plover, lapwing, curlew, wigeon, teal, shoveler and gadwall gather in their thousands, roosting and feeding across the wet grasslands and pools. One of the most awesome spectacles is seeing massive flocks of roosting birds panic and fly into the air as peregrines hunt over Saltholme. Large flocks of starlings often roost in our extensive reedbeds, delighting us with their murmurations as they drop into the reeds at night.

About Saltholme

Habitat

Reed beds are one of our really important habitats. As well as benefiting birds such as water rails, reed buntings and reed warblers, many insects are also reliant on reedbeds as habitat. A mixture of other habitats can be found here including open pools, scrapes, wet grassland and a meadow.

Conservation

We're looking after wet grassland areas of the reserve both as part of the larger Tees and Hartlepool Foreshore and Wetlands Site of Special Scientific Interest, and for the Teesmouth and Cleveland Special Protection Area. This is for the benefit of the nationally important numbers of wintering wildfowl and waders including golden plover, lapwing and wigeon, which graze the grass or peck at creepy-crawlies here. We have sheep and cattle which help us manage the grassland making sure it's all good for the species which rely on us.

Saltholme is home to one of the UK's largest inland breeding colony of common tern, which arrive each spring to nest on the cockleshell-covered islands in our open pools. The islands provide the ideal nesting site for these birds, as they are away from predatory mammals and accidental trampling.

We control water levels in the shallow open water pools and 'scrapes' to create muddy edges and bare areas for the large numbers of wading birds which stop off at the site during migration.

Teesside Environmental Trust (TET) was established in April 1998 with the aim of providing a nature reserve of international importance at Saltholme. TET agreed to partner with the RSPB in early 2000 and in August 2007 the whole of the 1000-acre site was leased to the RSPB. 

Partners

The RSPB and Teesside Environmental Trust would like to thank all our funders and supporters who are helping us create Saltholme.

  • Teesside Environmental Trust
  • Tees Valley Partnership
  • The European Regional Development fund via the Government Office for the North East
  • Sembcorp Utilities
  • The Heritage Lottery Fund
  • Augean
  • Stockton Borough Council
  • SABIC
  • UK Petrochemicals
  • SITA Trust
  • Impetus Environment Fund
  • Environment Agency
  • Tees Valley Wildlife Trust
  • INCA Teesside
  • Biffa Award
  • Shears Foundation
  • Northumbrian Water
  • HMP Kirklevington
  • Exwold Technology
  • PD Ports
  • Fine Industries

Site information

Four wildlife viewing hides, along with viewing screens and the viewing gallery in the visitor centre, to help you get closer to the wildlife which calls Saltholme home. Still wanting more? From early spring to mid-summer all manner of plants and flowers bloom in the walled garden, designed by celebrity gardener Chris Beardshaw. 

Satellite Sites
In addition to the main reserve, we have several satellite sites nearby.

  • Dorman’s Pool situated just off Huntsmans Drive is a birdwatching haven and is for the exclusive use of RSPB members and Teesmouth Bird Club members. There is access all the time (hide open 10am-4/5pm). Ask the team at reception if you need some advice and head over with your membership card and binoculars and get ready to enjoy the wildlife.
  • Greatham Creek situated approximately 1.5 miles north of the main site, along the A178, is the seal viewpoint. Accessed by a safe path from a small car park, the viewpoint gives stunning views of the harbour seal colony – up to 80 seals can be seen if the tide is right. Ask at reception for directions and information on the best times to view. The viewpoint is open all the time.
  • Saltern Wetlands is on the north side of Greatham Creek and a public footpath (open all the time) allows access through from the A178 to Greatham village. New habitat is being created as the sea inundates this area at high tide.
  • Wild Saltholme is to the north-west of the main reserve and was previously grazed by sheep and cattle. It will be returned to nature with minimal human intervention of the coming years. The area will be monitored to keep track of which species are moving in and how the land changes. The aim is that this project will lead to much higher biodiversity on the land. Wild Saltholme is not currently publicly accessible.

Latest blog posts

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Latest forum posts

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What people are saying about Saltholme

When you walk either up the car park or by the footpath from the very moment you enter the place, the wildlife greets you on the way in! Absolutely outstanding and I've been recommending this to friends as a matter of 'you MUST visit Saltholme!' So easy to get to as well - personally, I was utterly amazed... usually, one has to do a lot of legwork to be able to reach any country park or nature reserve, but Saltholme? the bus takes you right outside (if you are sans car). It truly is a feast for the eyes and the senses - who'd have thought a place like this could co-exist in an area known for its heavy industry? Seriously can't wait to go again and again and again! There was so much to see that we just couldn't do it all in one visit, so there's our excuse right there! The whole place is truly amazing, and I reckon by this time next year, the whole place will be teeming with even more life as migratory birds 'pass good word on' about Saltholme. :-)

A A F

This was my first visit here - what an oasis. Great place to unwind and be at one with nature in a truly great setting. The staff were very helpful and informative, the shop well-stocked and the cafe very welcoming on such a cold day. I was so impressed that I couldn't fill the joining form out quick enough. I will be back soon.

Tony Brunton

Have just made our first of what I am sure will be many visits to this amazing new site. The industrial landscape gives a very special atmosphere and it was great to see so many different species of bird within easy viewing distance. I would highly recommend it to anyone, and to sit and enjoy the view from the coffee shop in more inclement weather may become one of our favourite weekend hobbies. Well done RSPB - and it is nice to have something right on our doorstep!

Alison Wheelhouse

Activities and events

Activities for children and families

Saltholme has everything to help your family enjoy and discover more about nature. Rugged pushchairs are available to hire free of charge. There’s adventure play, events and activities at weekends and school holidays. With volunteers to help you make the most of your time, you’ll be able to discover more about Saltholme’s nature together and have lots of fun at the same time.

For more information on events and to book tickets, please visit events.rspb.org.uk/saltholme

Leisure activities

Saltholme's main trails are accessible and, with a cafe with a stunning view, Saltholme is an ideal location to meet friends and catch up on news. Newly refurbished wildlife hides, one of which has automatic doors, make it even more pleasant to enjoy what Saltholme has to offer. There are views of Middlesbrough's iconic transporter bridge, Amish Kapoor's "Temenos" sculpture as well as an excellent view of Roseberry Topping.

You might also be interested in

Tees Transporter bridge distant in background, Saltholme RSPB reserve, Teesside.

Schools at Saltholme

 Awaken your pupils' senses to nature with an active, hands-on experience that will engage and inspire them

Starling murmurations

 A murmuration of starlings is an amazing sight - a swooping mass of thousands of birds whirling in the sky above
RSPB Giving Nature a Home Campaign

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