Sealy Tarns Track

The Sealy Tarns Track climbs about 2,200 steps and 600 m from the Kea Point Track to a group of small alpine lakes, or tarns, on the Sealy Range above Aoraki/Mount Cook Village. DOC times it at 3 to 4 hours return. From the tarns you look down the Hooker Valley and, on a clear day, up to Aoraki/Mount Cook (3,724 m).

DOC calls it the “stairway to heaven”. It is the first half of the route to Mueller Hut in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. Above the tarns the steps end and an unmaintained alpine route begins.

Sealy Tarns Track details

Checked November 2026:

	Detail
Return time	3 to 4 hours (about 2 hours up from the village, per DOC’s Mueller Hut route timings)
Height gain	600 m
Steps	About 2,200
Height of the tarns	Marked 1,250 m on DOC’s Aoraki/Mount Cook walking tracks map
Grade	DOC page: easy to intermediate; DOC brochure: walking track, steep with steps
Start	Kea Point Track, from Terrace Road by the visitor centre or White Horse Hill car park
Shelter on the climb	None (DOC)
Booking	Not needed
DOC alert, 12 November 2026	None

DOC does not publish a distance for this track. The figures above come from DOC’s Sealy Tarns and Mueller Hut Route pages and its walking tracks brochure.

The route

Start on the Kea Point Track, either on Terrace Road near the visitor centre or at White Horse Hill car park at the end of Hooker Valley Road. Follow it to the signposted Sealy Tarns turnoff.

From there the track is gentle until the foot of the Mueller Range. Then the steps begin, zigzagging straight up the slope. Near the tarns the track narrows, and DOC warns it is easy to slip, especially when there is snow.

At the top the view takes in the Hooker Valley, Mueller Lake and the peaks around it. In summer the slopes are full of alpine flowers, and DOC’s Mueller Hut page says the Mount Cook lily appears on this route from late November.

Weather, ice and the line you should not cross

There is no shelter on the climb and no other way down. DOC says bad weather here generally comes from the north-west, and if you see it coming, turn back.

In winter DOC says the track can be extremely icy. An ice axe and crampons may be needed to reach the tarns, and there may be avalanche risk. Ask at the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park Visitor Centre before you go.

Above the tarns the track becomes the Mueller Hut Route. DOC describes it as an alpine route, not a maintained track, with snow and ice possible from March to November and considerable avalanche danger from April to mid-November. In November 2026 DOC’s alert for the route warned of sub-zero temperatures and ice. If you are not equipped and booked for the hut, the tarns are the place to turn round.

Parking

The track shares White Horse Hill car park with the Hooker Valley Track. Checked November 2026, parking costs NZ$2.50 per half hour or NZ$25 a day, with the first 20 minutes free. The machines take debit and credit cards, not cash. A 4-hour walk with a little time at the top costs around NZ$20 to NZ$25.

DOC says the car park cannot keep up on busy days, so arrive early. If you are staying in the village, start from Terrace Road and walk; it adds about an hour return and costs nothing. The Mount Cook accommodation guide lists places within walking distance.

What to bring

• Water and food. There is nothing to buy on the track.
• A warm layer and a waterproof jacket. DOC warns of strong wind, rain and snow at any time of year in the park.
• Sun protection for the exposed climb.
• Microspikes or more in winter, after checking conditions with DOC.

Kea, the alpine parrot, live in these mountains. Do not feed them. Drones are not allowed anywhere in the national park.

For a flatter day out from the same car park, walk the Hooker Valley Track to Hooker Lake.