A New Way to Explore the Trees of Rowntree Park
There’s a new way to wander through Rowntree Park and it begins with looking up!
We’re excited to share Walk on the Wild Side, a free digital tree trail created by the Friends of Rowntree Park in partnership with local app developers Boon & Moil. The trail is designed to help people slow down, notice the nature around them and discover the stories hidden among the park’s trees.
Rowntree Park is home to a wide variety of trees
Rowntree Park is home to an incredible variety of trees, from towering native species to ornamental favourites planted over many decades. Many visitors walk past them every day without knowing what they are or how much they change throughout the year. This trail is an invitation to reconnect with them season by season.
The trail takes visitors on a gentle walk around the park, stopping at 20 different trees along the way. You’ll meet familiar species such as Alder, Oak, Sycamore, Lime, Elm and Silver Birch, alongside ornamental trees including Bird Cherry and the beautiful Japanese cherry blossom trees that brighten the park in spring.
Identify tree flowers and tree fruits and seeds
Rather than simply identifying trees once and moving on, the trail encourages people to return throughout the year and notice the changes. In spring you might spot blossom, buds and dangling catkins. Summer brings dense green canopies and the chance to learn how to identify trees by their leaves and bark. Then autumn arrives with seeds, fruits and changing colours scattered across the ground.
The app includes an easy-to-follow map, simple information about each tree and illustrated tree cards to help people learn what to look for. There’s also a shorter children’s version designed for little legs and curious young explorers. Illustrations for the trail were created by local illustrator Ellie Lewis.
As a charity, the Friends of Rowntree Park are passionate about helping people connect with nature and with each other. Our volunteers support the park through gardening projects, wildlife initiatives, community events, nature activities and environmental projects throughout the year. Creating the tree trail felt like a natural extension of that work.
Enjoy some time engaging with nature with the Rowntree Park Tree Trail
We hope the trail gives people a reason to pause, wander a little more slowly and perhaps begin to recognise the trees they pass every day. The trail takes around 30 minutes to an hour depending on how much exploring you choose to do along the way. It’s completely free to use, with no booking required, and works well even on older devices.
Printed leaflets are also available for a small donation from the Reading Café in the park.
With Thanks to Henry and Adam who volunteered their time and skill to develop this app for Rowntree Park. Visit Boon & Moil App developers site here
If you’d like to donate to our charity that help maintain and improve the park – then we’d love that!
