[3] This protected area includes exceptional gorge woodland at a location where the River Gelt has cut through the New Red Sandstone.

Tree species within Gelt Woods include sessile oak and beech has also been introduced here.

[1] Riverside woodland includes the tree species ash, wych elm and alder.

In damp areas, beech fern is present and the liverworts Fissidens exiguus and Lepidozia sylvatica have been recorded.

[2] Part of the land within Gelt Woods SSSI is owned and managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.