Gav Grayston
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.
The Red Squirrel Trail Loop
Route Map
Full route details can be found on
OS Maps, Ordnance Survey
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 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.
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.
As you can see, there’s a lot of downhill, but some climbs too.
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.
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.
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.
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- There are penly of sections that have gravel and are bumpy, so make sure your riders are confident with that type of surface.
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- Nice and flat to cycle along this section
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- There are sections of road, like this one. If you have kids and want to avoid the roads, you can get off and walk these sections.
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- Looking towards Shanklin, the way back, from Sandown beach.
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- Part of the off-road section of the Red Squirrel Trail
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- A lot of the trail looked like it was on an old railway line
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- After crossing a field, the trail goes through these grand old gates.
Planning your visit
General Facilities
Parking
Toilets
Cafe
Picnic Area
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. ?
Prices
£8.00 - £20.00
Riding the trail is of course free. However, if you want to hire bikes, click the link to see the prices from routefifty7.
How to get here
Directions
These are the directions to routefify7 bike hire.
Contact Details
Nearby Places
Lower Hyde Holiday Park, Landguard Rd, Shanklin, Isle of Wight 0 mi
Burnt House Farm, Burnt House Lane, Newport, Isle of Wight 5.27 mi
Monkey Haven, 5 Acres Farm, Staplers Road, Newport, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight 6.04 mi
Castle Hill, Newport, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight 6.8 mi
Alum Bay New Road, Alum Bay, Isle of Wight 16.88 mi
