About this site

This is a small independent guide to the Southern Alps of New Zealand: Aoraki/Mount Cook, the Tekapo and Pukaki lakes, the West Coast glaciers, Arthur’s Pass, Mount Aspiring and the roads between them. It is written and maintained by one person, independently.

It is not an official website. The range’s official name is Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana. “New Zealand Alps” is an old descriptive name that this site uses as its domain, not an official title. The site has no connection to the Department of Conservation (DOC), which manages the national parks, to Ngāi Tahu, to any tourism board or council, or to the tour operators, hotels and transport companies mentioned on these pages.

How pages are checked

Every page starts from sources we can name. For tracks, huts, campsites, parking and park rules, that means DOC’s own pages. For heights, history and names, it means sources such as the University of Otago’s 2013 survey of Aoraki, Heritage New Zealand and Ngāi Tahu’s own pages. For transport and prices, it means the operator’s own site on the day we checked. Where sources disagree, and in the mountains they often do (on heights, glacier lengths and park areas), we say which figure we used and why, or give the range.

Ngāi Tahu traditions, such as the story of Aoraki and his brothers, are written as Ngāi Tahu’s traditions and credited to the iwi or to DOC. We do not present them as folklore or claim more than the sources say.

Fees, timetables and road conditions carry the month we checked them. They change, sometimes overnight, so the pages link to DOC, NZTA, KiwiRail and the operators, and ask you to confirm before you travel. Driving times from a routing engine run short on mountain roads, so treat them as minimums.

Tours, hotels and how the site makes money

Tour links go to GetYourGuide. If you book through one of them we earn a small commission, and the price you pay is the same. Some pages link to hotels, and those links may earn a commission through Stay22. We do not run any tours and we are not GetYourGuide. The full explanation is on the affiliate disclosure page.

Tell us when we are wrong

Parking fees change, a track closes after a flood, a bridge reopens. If you find something out of date or wrong on this site, email info@newzealandalps.com with the page and what you saw. Corrections are welcome. We would rather hear it from you than leave it standing.