The Hooker Valley Track is a 10 km return walk, about 3 hours, from White Horse Hill car park near Aoraki/Mount Cook Village to Hooker Lake at the foot of Aoraki. It is mostly flat gravel, crosses three swing bridges, and is open in November 2026. Parking costs NZ$2.50 per half hour, by card.
The Hooker Valley Track is a 10 km return walk that takes about 3 hours from White Horse Hill car park, near Aoraki/Mount Cook Village, to Hooker Lake at the foot of Aoraki/Mount Cook (3,724 m). It is mostly flat gravel with a few steps, crosses three swing bridges, and comes back the same way. In November 2026 the whole track is open, including the new 189 m suspension bridge that opened on 28 July 2026.
DOC calls it the most popular visitor attraction in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, and said in 2025 that it gets around half a million visitors a year, which explains most of the advice below about parking early.
Checked November 2026:
| Section | Time one way | Distance | What is there |
|---|---|---|---|
| White Horse Hill car park to first swing bridge | 15 min | 1 km | Side tracks to Freda’s Rock and the Alpine Memorial; Mueller Lookout just before the bridge |
| First to second swing bridge | 30 min | 1.5 km | Moraine humps, Kakīroa/Mount Sefton View Lookout over Mueller Lake and Mueller Glacier |
| Second swing bridge to Hooker Lake | 45 min | 2.5 km | Wider tussock valley, toilets 15 min after the bridge, third swing bridge, then the lake |
| Whole track, return | About 3 h | 10 km | About 80 m of height gain; add 1 h if you walk from the village |
Times and distances are DOC’s. The 80 m height gain comes from DOC’s Aoraki/Mount Cook walking tracks brochure. DOC grades the track easy to intermediate.
At the end you stand on the shore of Hooker Lake, with Aoraki at the head of the valley. Icebergs float in the lake in summer. In winter it can freeze over.
Each bridge has its own story right now.
Bridge one is 47 years old. Engineers have found cable wear, and DOC now enforces a limit of 20 people at a time with a self-closing “pause gate” at each end. DOC said it had regularly seen more than 40 people on it at once. Expect a short wait at busy times, and expect rangers or compliance staff on duty over the 2026-27 summer. DOC says the bridge is safe to cross with the limit followed, and it is planning a replacement within the next few years.
Bridge two is the new one. It spans 189 m, and DOC calls it the longest suspension bridge in New Zealand. Its designer, Dan Crocker of DC Structures Studio, goes further and calls it the longest single-span footbridge of any kind in the country. It cost NZ$4.85 million, building started in August 2025, and it opened to the public at 3 pm on Tuesday 28 July 2026 after a blessing from mana whenua.
Bridge three is the last crossing before the lake.
Yes. The full track to Hooker Lake has been open since the new bridge opened on 28 July 2026.
The long closure is over. The old second bridge closed after heavy rain over Easter 2025, when the riverbank under it kept eroding, and DOC shut it for good. For more than a year you could only walk to the first bridge and the Mueller Lake viewpoint. The upper valley was a construction site with explosives and helicopters, and DOC put up cameras in December 2025 because people kept climbing the barriers.
Short closures still happen. In November 2026 DOC posted a morning closure from the first swing bridge for track maintenance using helicopters, only a day ahead, so check the alerts on DOC’s Hooker Valley Track page before you set off. Snow can also close SH80, the road into the village.
The track starts at White Horse Hill car park, at the end of Hooker Valley Road. From the village, take SH80 towards Twizel, and Hooker Valley Road is the first turn on the left. It is about 2.5 km and a 5-minute drive. Twizel is about 50 minutes away and Tekapo about 1 hour 30 minutes, according to DOC.
The car park is paid. Checked November 2026:
The charges started as a pilot in December 2025. On 2 July 2026 DOC said paid parking would continue at its three pilot sites, White Horse Hill among them, and switched to half-hour steps. There is no booking system. DOC says the car park does not keep up with demand on busy days, so arrive early. If it is full, use only the designated roadside parking. Campers booked at White Horse Hill Campground park in the campsite instead.
Two more things on parking. Kea, the alpine parrot, live in this valley, and DOC lists cars among the things that injure them. Never feed them. And if you are staying in the village, the walk adds only about an hour return, which saves the fee. The Mount Cook accommodation guide covers the options close enough to walk from.
No car? A small-group day trip from Queenstown, a day tour from Christchurch and a shuttle from Tekapo all build in time to walk the track on your own. They are listed further down this page.
DOC suggests starting at dawn, when the first sun reaches the peaks and there are fewer walkers. That also gives you a better chance at a parking space.
In winter the shaded parts of the track get very icy and slippery. DOC recommends microspikes and hiking poles, and its district manager said in July 2026 that the best part of a winter day is often late morning to mid-afternoon, once the sun has warmed things up. Wind, heavy rain and snow are possible in any month here, so carry a warm, waterproof layer even on a calm summer morning.
Stay out of the lake. DOC says the water is typically about 3 °C and can cause hypothermia quickly. Do not walk on the lake when it is frozen, and do not climb icebergs, which can tip without warning. The track itself is routed to avoid avalanche paths, so keep to it.
In late spring and summer look for the Mount Cook buttercup, which DOC calls the world’s biggest buttercup, and listen for kea and kārearea, the New Zealand falcon. Drones are not allowed anywhere in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park.
The track runs north from White Horse Hill up the Hooker Valley, roughly 5 km in a straight line from the car park to the lake. The Southern Alps map shows the start, the lake and the other trailheads around the village.
Three other walks leave from the same car park:
For Tasman Lake and its icebergs, drive 10 minutes to the Tasman Glacier car park. The things to do in Mount Cook guide covers the rest of the park.
12 hoursPickup included
A minibus day from Queenstown for up to 15 people that crosses Lindis Pass, stops at Lake Pukaki for the view of Aoraki, then gives you about three hours to walk the full Hooker Valley Track to Hooker Lake.
from$157
Check availability13 hoursPickup included
A small-group Christchurch day with lunch included that stops at Tekapo and Pukaki and lets you choose between the Hooker Valley Track and the Tasman Glacier walk once you reach the park.
from$152
Check availability8.5 hours
The cheap way into the park if you are staying in Tekapo: a year-round shuttle from the village supermarket car park with time at Peter's Lookout, the Tasman Glacier viewpoint and the Hooker Valley Track, walked on your own.
from$95
Check availabilityPrices and ratings were taken from GetYourGuide and can change. Booking through these links supports this site at no extra cost to you.
It is 10 km return on the same track, and DOC puts it at about 3 hours there and back from White Horse Hill car park. One way breaks down as 15 minutes to the first swing bridge, 30 minutes to the second and 45 minutes to Hooker Lake. Starting on foot from Aoraki/Mount Cook Village adds about an hour.
Yes. The full track to Hooker Lake reopened when the new second bridge opened on 28 July 2026. DOC still posts short closures, for example for helicopter maintenance work near the first swing bridge, sometimes only a day ahead. Check the alerts on DOC's Hooker Valley Track page on the morning you go.
White Horse Hill car park costs NZ$2.50 per half hour or NZ$25 a day, checked November 2026. Stays under 20 minutes are free. The machines take debit and credit cards only, not cash. Leaving a car overnight counts as two days, so NZ$50. DOC made the charge permanent in July 2026 after a pilot over the 2025-26 summer.
No. DOC grades it easy to intermediate, and the brochure gives a height gain of only about 80 m over 5 km. The surface is gravel with some steps. The harder parts are the weather and the crowds: wind, rain and snow can arrive in any season, and in winter the shaded sections get icy enough that DOC recommends microspikes and poles.
Yes, in two places. White Horse Hill Campground at the start has wheelchair-accessible toilets, a shelter with tables and treated drinking water. On the track, DOC lists toilets about 15 minutes past the second swing bridge, at Stocking Stream. DOC lists no other toilets on the track, so plan around those two stops.
Aoraki / Mount Cook is New Zealand's highest mountain at 3,724 m, measured by a University of Otago team in 2013.
Kea Point Track is a short walk in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park to a viewing deck on the Mueller Glacier moraine wall, facing Mount Sefton, Mueller Lake and Aoraki/Mount Cook.
The Sealy Tarns Track climbs about 2,200 steps and 600 m from the Kea Point Track to a set of small alpine lakes above the Hooker Valley in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park.
Mueller Hut is a 28-bunk DOC alpine hut on the Sealy Range above Aoraki/Mount Cook Village.
Haupapa/Tasman Glacier, which DOC calls New Zealand's longest glacier, is about 22 to 23.5 km long, in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park.
White Horse Hill Campground is the DOC campsite at the start of the Hooker Valley Track: 72 tent and campervan sites, $20 a night for adults, booked online only and often full.
Stay in Aoraki/Mount Cook Village if you want to start the Hooker Valley Track early or arrive by bus.