Beaver Safaris

Through the summer months, when the long light evenings and early mornings offer the best chance to spot the beavers at work and play, we run our popular 'Beaver Safaris' .

Beaver Safari booking here

image by Mike Rego 2025

These unique afternoon and evening 'safaris' offer the opportunity to spend time inside the beaver enclosure at Moor Barton Wilding. The six and a half acre enclosure is plenty big enough to meet all of the needs of the beavers on the land. In fact, the area is so abundant in food and dam making materials that it will easily provide habitat and territory for the next generation of beavers as well. However, containing the work of the beavers within the enclosure, as well as enabling us to monitor their ecological impact, gives us the privilege of experiencing what it is like to be in a 'beaver engineered' landscape. Back in the Bronze Age, around a third of this country would have been beaver engineered and supporting a myriad of wildlife. Exploring the complex and ever changing network of dams and slow moving pools that the beavers have created - and witnessing the explosion of life that this habitat supports - can transport us back to a time when our ecosystems were intact and abundant. For many people, this is a hugely moving experience and offers a glimpse of what a 'rewilded' world might look and feel like. A recent visitor to the beaver habitat told us, "I was moved to tears to witness the explosion of life and beauty wrought by the beavers in such an astonishingly short time frame."

This exploration of the beaver habitat is guided members of the Moor Barton Wilding Steering Group, Peter Cow and Josh Parker. Both Peter and Josh are passionate and knowledgeable rewilders who have been involved with the project for many years. (Peter helped make the first lodge for the beavers the week before they arrived in 2022!)

After exploring the beaver habitat, there is dinner around the fire (everyone brings a 'packed dinner' with them) and the opportunity to ask all of your beaver and rewilding related questions. Following this, the final (and perhaps most exciting!) part of the beaver safari is actually watching the beavers. We sit quietly by their pools, listening for the sound of the slap of a tail on water or strong teeth gnawing wood and hopefully see the beavers at work on their dams, nibbling away at trees or catch a glimpse of them swimming silently through the pools. Of course, as beavers are wild animals, we cannot guarantee a sighting. However, midsummer, when the days are longest, is the best time of year to try. And it can still be a magical experience to sit quietly in this beautiful place, seeing and hearing the natural world all around, regardless of whether you see the beavers or not. We also offer the option of staying on, camping for the night and having another chance to see the beavers in the early morning, at around 6am.

Beaver Safari Itinerary

3pm: Gather at Moor Barton Wilding

Guided exploration of the beaver habitat

6ish: Packed dinner around the fire with discussion / Q&A about beaver behaviour, ecology

and all things rewilding

7.30ish: Back to the beaver habitat for beaver watching sit spots

9.30: Finish, with option to camp the night and watch for beavers again in the early morning

Beaver Safari booking here