Finding dinosaur footprints on the Isle of Wight

At a glance

When

Low tide — after winter storms is best

Parking

Compton Bay, free for NT members

Toilets

At the Compton Bay car park

Food

The Sun Inn

If you’re searching for dinosaur footprints there’s no better place than the Isle of Wight. It’s often called “Dinosaur Island” — more than 25 species have been found here, and more bones than anywhere else in Europe.

Huge casts of footprints sit on the beach at Compton and Brook Bay, side by side on the south-west coast. The National Trust looks after them, so please take care of the casts when you visit.

How to find them

Before you go

Check the tide

Visit at low tide — the Met Office site has the tide times alongside the weather.

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Park at Compton Bay

The bigger car park, with toilets. Pay and display, or scan your National Trust card for free parking.

Wooden steps leading down to the beach at Compton Bay

On the beach

Take the steps and turn left

Walk along the beach for 2–3 minutes until you reach a large area of rocks on the sand.

Rocks and boulders on the beach below the cliffs at Compton Bay

The casts

Look closely

Search the stones around you — some look more footprint-like than others depending on erosion. Two of ours were green with seaweed.

A seaweed-covered three-toed footprint cast

What you’re looking for

The casts

Three-toed Iguanodon prints

30–60cm across, rising about 20cm above the sand — fairly easy to spot once you know.

The season

After a winter storm

Visible all year at low tide, but storms uncover remains that weren’t visible before.

The shoreline

Fossils in the gravel

Up to 10 metres of coast erode every year — look along the shoreline and in loose stones.

The tour

Wight Coast Fossils

Award-winning guided fossil hunts led by experts, for all ages and abilities.

A dinosaur footprint cast beside a pair of feet for scale — One of the larger casts, with a foot for scale.

Why they’re here

125 million years ago this was a muddy lagoon — a perfect habitat for dinosaurs. Their footprints filled with sand when the area flooded, and over millions of years they fossilised beneath the sea floor.

The same uplift that created the Alps forced the clay back to the surface, revealing the casts you see today — and more dinosaur remains than anywhere else in northern Europe.