New Zealand's glaciers are in the Southern Alps. The three most visited are the Tasman Glacier near Aoraki/Mount Cook, the country's longest, and the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers on the West Coast. All are retreating. Walking onto Franz Josef ended in 2012, so the usual way onto the West Coast ice is now a guided heli-hike.
A late-1970s survey counted over 3,000 glaciers larger than a hectare in the Southern Alps. Three are easy to visit: the Tasman Glacier beside Aoraki/Mount Cook, the longest in the country, and the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers on the West Coast. All three are retreating, and that has changed how you see them.
On the West Coast glaciers, the change is complete. You can no longer walk from the valley floor onto Franz Josef: that ended in 2012. Getting onto the ice now means a helicopter.
| Glacier | Where | How you see it | Getting onto the ice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haupapa / Tasman | Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, Tasman Valley | Tasman Glacier View Track: about 15 min one way, 300+ steps | Boat trips on Tasman Lake; ski-plane and helicopter landings on the upper glacier |
| Franz Josef / Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere | Westland Tai Poutini National Park | Valley walk from the Glacier Access Road car park, when open | Guided heli-hikes only |
| Fox / Te Moeka o Tuawe | Westland Tai Poutini National Park | South Side walkway: about 40 min to the first viewpoint | Guided heli-hikes only |
| Hooker | Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park | End of the Hooker Valley Track; icebergs on Hooker Lake in summer | Not offered |
| Rob Roy | Mount Aspiring National Park | Rob Roy Glacier Track: 10 km, 3 to 4 h return | Not offered |
Checked November 2026 against DOC track pages. Glacier valley tracks close for floods, rockfall and ice collapse, so check DOC and the daily glacier access update on the Glacier Country site before you drive out.
Franz Josef and Fox have moved back and forth more than most glaciers. Both retreated several kilometres between 1934 and 1984, then advanced again for more than twenty years. Sources disagree on exactly when that advance ended: NIWA says Franz Josef advanced almost continuously from 1983 to 2008, while Te Ara gives slightly different end dates.
After that the retreat was fast. NIWA says Franz Josef has pulled back more than 1.5 km since 2008, and RNZ reported that Fox retreated about 300 m in a single year, from January 2014 to January 2015. As the ice thinned, the glacier fronts became unstable. News reports say walking access onto Franz Josef ended in 2012, and guiding companies moved to helicopters, which land groups on the ice higher up. Franz Josef Glacier Guides, for example, works with The Helicopter Line.
Fox has lost road access too. DOC abandoned the old north-side road up the valley in 2019 after flood damage. The way in now is the Fox Glacier South Side walkway, which starts 2 km south of the township across the Fox River bridge. DOC warns walkers not to go past the final viewpoint because of extreme flood hazard.
For most visitors, a heli-hike is now the way to stand on these glaciers. On the classic Franz Josef heli-hike you get up to two and a half hours of guided walking on the ice, with boots, crampons and waterproofs supplied. Compare the two villages on Franz Josef vs Fox Glacier, and see Franz Josef accommodation for where to stay.
Haupapa / Tasman Glacier fills the Tasman Valley in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. DOC’s park page gives it as 23 km long, up to 3 km wide and about 101 km² in area, with ice about 600 m deep near the Hochstetter Icefall. Other sources give lengths from 22 km to 29 km, partly because they were measured at different times. The lower glacier is covered in rock, so from the road it looks more like a grey valley floor than ice.
What you notice instead is the lake. DOC says Tasman Lake did not exist until the 1970s and grows as the glacier melts. In summer it carries icebergs; in winter it freezes. The Tasman Glacier View Track, a short steep climb from the Tasman Valley road end, is the free way to look over it. Boat trips go out onto the lake itself; details are on the Tasman Glacier page.
Glaciers cover about 40 percent of Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, so there is ice in almost every view from the Hooker and Tasman valleys. For the mountain above them, see Aoraki / Mount Cook.
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Glaciers counted | Over 3,000 larger than 1 ha | Late-1970s inventory (Chinn) |
| Glaciers gone since | Around 200 | RNZ report |
| Ice volume lost | About 30 percent since the late 1970s | NIWA estimate |
| Franz Josef retreat | More than 1.5 km since 2008 | NIWA |
| Fox retreat | About 300 m, Jan 2014 to Jan 2015 | RNZ |
The NIWA figures come from the end-of-summer snowline survey of the Southern Alps, first flown in 1977. The 2026 survey, fifty years after the first, found that late snow had given the glaciers a short break from rapid ice loss. One good season does not reverse the trend.
Snow, and a lot of it. The western side of the range is far wetter than the east. Rainfall is about 3,000 mm a year on the West Coast and about 15,000 mm near the Main Divide, but only about 1,000 mm 30 km east of it. High up, much of that falls as snow, which builds into the ice that feeds the glaciers.
4-8 hours
The classic Franz Josef heli-hike: a helicopter lands you on the glacier for up to two and a half hours of guided walking among blue ice, crevasses and ice formations, with boots, crampons and waterproofs supplied.
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Fox Glacier's own heli-hike: a scenic flight up the glacier, then up to three hours on the ice with a local guide, with boots, crampons, poles and wet-weather gear provided.
from$476
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Fly from Mount Cook onto a remote part of the Tasman Glacier, New Zealand's longest, and spend up to two hours on the ice with a guide before the helicopter brings you back.
from$558
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A low-cost way to see the glacier without flying: a walk up the glacier valley through podocarp rainforest with one guide per ten guests, rain gear and boots if needed, and a tea and cookie break.
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A late-1970s inventory counted over 3,000 glaciers larger than one hectare in the Southern Alps. There is no up-to-date official total. RNZ has reported that around 200 glaciers have disappeared since that count, and NIWA estimated that about 30 percent of the ice volume in the Southern Alps was lost between the late 1970s and recent years.
Not from the valley floor. Walking access onto Franz Josef ended in 2012, after the glacier retreated fast and its front became unstable. The way onto the ice now is a guided heli-hike: a helicopter lands you on the upper glacier, and a guide leads you across the ice. You can still walk up the valley to a viewpoint when DOC has the track open.
Haupapa / Tasman Glacier in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. DOC calls it New Zealand's longest glacier. Its length is shrinking, so figures vary: DOC's park page gives 23 km, Wikipedia gives 23.5 km, and older Te Ara pages give 27 to 29 km. You can see its lower end and Tasman Lake from the Tasman Glacier View Track, about 15 minutes' walk from the road end.
Most are shrinking. NIWA has estimated a loss of about 30 percent of Southern Alps ice volume since the late 1970s, and Franz Josef has retreated more than 1.5 km since 2008. Tasman Lake, in front of the Tasman Glacier, only began forming in the 1970s as the ice melted back. Late snow in 2026 gave the glaciers a short break from rapid loss, according to the long-running snowline survey.
Either works for a heli-hike or a scenic flight, and they are only about 45 minutes apart by bus, so many people see both. Franz Josef is the bigger village with more places to stay. Fox Glacier is smaller and closer to Lake Matheson, the lake known for reflections of Aoraki and Mount Tasman. Our Franz Josef vs Fox Glacier page compares them in detail.
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.
You can no longer walk onto Franz Josef Glacier from the valley.
Fox Glacier, or Te Moeka o Tuawe, is best seen on foot from DOC's South Side Walkway: 6.4 km return, about 2 hours, starting 2 km south of the village.
Pick Fox Glacier for a heli hike: up to 3 hours on the ice, NZ$50 cheaper and open to children from 9.
Lake Matheson, 5 minutes' drive from Fox Glacier village, is the lake known for mirror reflections of Aoraki/Mount Cook and Mount Tasman.
Stay in Franz Josef for the wider choice of hotels, from holiday parks to a 5-star retreat, and for most glacier heli-hikes.
Haast Pass (Tioripatea) is the lowest road crossing of the Southern Alps, 563 m above sea level on State Highway 6.