Rights of Way

Welcome to the Isle of Wight Council Public Rights of Way section website.

Should you have any questions, comments or queries please Contact us

Due to the winter weather there have been a small number of recent path closures.

Steps to the beach at Compton have been closed due to unsafe conditions.
Byways in Brighstone and Shorwell have been closed to vehicles only.

Please see our Closures page for all current path closures.

The Isle of Wight Walking Festival is the largest of its kind in the UK and holds walks and events for everyone. Please see the Walking Festival website for more details.

The Definitive map for the Isle of Wight is now available in a digital format on our Digital Definitive Map page.

These maps can be viewed for any area on the island.

The Rights of Way section of the Isle of Wight Council manages the most concentrated network of public rights of way in the UK. Within 38,000 hectares (147 square miles) there are 520 miles of rights of way which include 326 miles of footpath, 165 miles of bridleways, and 29 miles of byways. This equates to 3.5 miles of rights of way per square mile.

Under current legislation the Isle of Wight council has a duty to keep a record of these rights of way. See Definitive map and statement for more details of this record.

The Isle of Wight council also has a duty to maintain and protect the public rights of way network. See Maintenance and Projects for more details of this work.