Red Squirrels & Squirrel Safari

There's probably no better place on the Isle of Wight, if not England to see these beautiful, yet endangered species.

The Island provides one of England’s only sanctuaries for our native Red Squirrel. These endearing mammals have been driven from much of the country by American Grey squirrels that out compete with the Red’s for food and also pass on diseases.

However the Solent provides a watery barrier that prevents Grey squirrels invading Island territory and thus the Red Squirrel survives undisturbed.

Robin Hill is no doubt one of the best places to see Red Squirrels on the Island. We have large areas of ancient woodland that makes an ideal home for them to feed and shelter and with so many visitors wandering through every year; the squirrels aren’t quite as shy as elsewhere.

We are working in conjunction with our local charity “The Wight Squirrel Project” to protect these creatures and promote their plight to all Island visitors. Every Friday at 3.30pm we hold a Red Squirrel Safari, (3.30pm on Thursdays in September & October), a free walk and talk by Helen Butler and Mike Evans from the project who will lead you around the woodland and hopefully guide you to a live sighting or two.

Also look out for our Red Squirrel Hot Spots that give you an indication of the best places in the park to see our Squirrels.

We’ve also installed a viewing hide and we have Squirrel cameras transmitting live footage from our Squirrel feeding stations back to our Tree house Woodland Centre. So all in all, you really should come to Robin Hill if you want to see and learn about these agile mammals. Nowhere else will you get such a great chance to see one outside of captivity unless you visit Scotland.

For more information and to download our Red Squirrel fact sheet (pdf) please click here. Please bring it with you as it may help you spot one as you walk around the woodland!

Thanks to Chris Boynton from Island Photo Art for all our Red Squirrel images. Prints are available at the Robin Hill gift shop.

Tree House Woodland Centre

Robin Hill’s stilted Woodland Tree house building is not only amazing to look but is also great l if you love nature!

The building contains lots of information about the wildlife and plants visitors can see out in Robin Hill’s the woodland. Find more information about the endangered Red Squirrels, rare Dormice and other woodland flora & fauna. You can also see what happens to the wildlife at the park throughout the year with Terry Nutkin’s four seasons video. Other screens will give you some amazing animal facts and figures.

The chances of seeing some real wild life here at the park is very likely which is why we are so popular with nature lovers of all ages. Three wildlife cameras bring live footage back from quiet woodland corners for you to view in the peace and comfort of the Tree house. You can nearly always see some Red Squirrels on screen perched contentedly at one of our feeding stations.

The building is great for people of all ages and also very popular with school groups as it meets many key curriculum stages. We hope that the Centre inspires you all to go out into the woodland and explore it for yourself.

Butterfly Garden

Planted with a whole range of buddleias and other insect-attracting plants & shrubs, Robin Hill's butterfly garden attracts many species of butterflies and day moths for visitors to enjoy though the summer months. You might be lucky to see as many as 20 different species on a sunny calm day... and information boards will help you identify them. This area will be great for gardeners and nature-lovers alike! The garden can be found along the park’s garden route or can be accessed from near the African Adventure playground.