The Red Squirrel Trail Loop
The Red Squirrel Trail Loop
The Red Squirrel Trail Loop
The Red Squirrel Trail Loop
The Red Squirrel Trail Loop
The Red Squirrel Trail Loop
The Red Squirrel Trail Loop
The Red Squirrel Trail Loop

The Red Squirrel Trail Loop

 Isle of Wight, England.
ParkingToiletsCafePicnic Area
Cycling Trail

23.3 km long.

Difficulty:  Medium

The Red Squirrel Trail Loop Route Map

Click map to view the route published on OS Maps, Ordnance Survey

The Red Squirrel Trail is a popular family bike trail in the Isle of Wight. The full route goes all the ways to Cowes and back. However, this is the alternate Red Squirrel Loop, which can easily be done in a day. Note that this route will probably be too tough for very small riders. It is also not completely traffic free, plus surfaces vary from tarmac, mud, and gravel.

Videos

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Our Review

We collected some bikes from Route Fifty7 bike hire and headed off along the trail in a clockwise direction.

The weather was glorious!

The Red Squirrel Trail map leaflet

The fulle route goes all the ways to Cowes and back.

The guys at routefify7 said that if you didn't stop, the alternate Red Squirrel Trail Loop would usually take two and a half hours. However, with exploring, taking your time, and stopping off, you should plan to take four to five hours, making a good day of it.

Finding your way around the route is not too tricky as there are plenty of signs saying 'Red Squirrel Trail'. However, these disappear in a few places. Just keep going in the bridleway until you reach the next sign.

You'll be sharing the bridleway with walkers and horse riders, so keep an eye out.

A horse and cart on the Red Squirrel Trail

The trail is shared with walkers and horse riders. We weren't expecting this though ;-)

The path is a mix of surfaces with some hills, and there are some road sections. You can always walk the road sections if you have young kids.

Red Squirrel Trail Loop Elevation

As you can see, there's a lot of downhill, but some climbs too.

 A bumpy ride across this huge field.

A bumpy ride across this huge field.

At just over half-way around, we stopped at the Pedallers Cafe and had a good lunch and rest.

Stopping at the Pedallers Cafe

A pitstop at the Pedallers Cafe

On the last stages of the trail, you'll get to the beach at Sandown. Time to have a rest again.

On the beach at Sandown

The end of Sandown Pier and Tom searching for fossilised shark teeth on the beach.

This was a great day out.

It gets the Thumbs Up from us.

Facilities

 Parking Toilets Cafe Picnic Area

Facilities Details

If you collect the cycles at the Lower Hyde Holiday Park, there are toilets plus a shop to buy food for the ride, and enjoy a picnic along the route. Alternatively, there are plenty of opportunities to explore the little villages and stop at cafes. Ice creams are also available at Sandown beach. ?

On The Map

Address

The Red Squirrel Trail Loop
Lower Hyde Holiday Park, Landguard Rd, Shanklin
Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
PO37 7LL
England

Longitude: -1.185847
Latitude: 50.632872

How to get in touch

 Visit their Website

 Call on 07491 00 00 57

 Email [email protected]

We visited for free to conduct this review.