The best things to do in Mount Cook are the Hooker Valley Track to Hooker Lake, the short climb to the Tasman Glacier view and the Blue Lakes, Kea Point, and a scenic flight with a glacier landing. Fitter walkers add Sealy Tarns or Mueller Hut. Entry to the national park is free; trailhead parking is not.
The best things to do in Mount Cook are free walks with a parking charge attached. Walk the Hooker Valley Track to Hooker Lake and its icebergs, climb the short, steep path to the Tasman Glacier view and the Blue Lakes, and walk to Kea Point for the Mueller Glacier lake. Fitter walkers climb to Sealy Tarns or stay a night at Mueller Hut. Then pay for one thing: a scenic flight or heli-hike onto the glaciers. After dark, the whole park sits inside an International Dark Sky Reserve.
Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park is free to enter. You pay to park at the White Horse Hill trailhead, and for huts, flights and tours.
For most visitors, yes. Aoraki/Mount Cook is New Zealand’s highest mountain at 3,724 m, and the Hooker Valley Track gets you to a glacier lake below it in about 90 minutes of easy walking. DOC says the track draws hundreds of thousands of visitors a year.
The catch is the weather. Aoraki/Mount Cook Village gets about 4,500 mm of rain a year by Te Ara’s figure (one Wikipedia table gives about 3,650 mm), and low cloud can hide the summit for days. Give yourself two nights, or at least a flexible day, and you improve your odds of seeing it.
All of these are DOC tracks. Times are one way unless stated.
| Walk | Distance and time | Effort | Starts from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hooker Valley Track | About 5 km, 1 h 30 min | Gravel, some steps, three swing bridges | White Horse Hill car park |
| Tasman Glacier View Track | About 15 min | Short and steep, 300+ steps | Tasman Valley car park |
| Tasman Lake and River Track | 2.5 km return | Down to the lake shore | Tasman Valley car park |
| Kea Point Track | About 3 km, 180 m climb | Short climb to a viewing deck | Village or White Horse Hill |
| Sealy Tarns Track | 3 to 4 h return, 600 m climb, about 2,200 steps | Hard and steep | Branches off Kea Point Track |
| Mueller Hut Route | Village to the hut about 4 h, 1,000 m climb | Alpine route; experience needed | Via Sealy Tarns |
The one to do if you only do one. The track follows the Hooker River for about 5 km to Hooker Lake, with Aoraki at the head of the valley and icebergs on the water in summer. It crosses three swing bridges. One of them is new: a 189 m suspension bridge, which DOC calls the longest in New Zealand, opened on 28 July 2026. DOC has also planned a gate at the first bridge, which carries a 20-person limit, with rangers there at peak times. In winter the shaded sections ice up, and DOC recommends microspikes and poles. Full details are in our Hooker Valley Track guide.
Drive about 10 minutes from the village to the Tasman Valley car park, then climb more than 300 steps for 15 minutes to a view over Tasman Lake and the end of the Haupapa / Tasman Glacier, which DOC calls New Zealand’s longest. The lake didn’t exist until the 1970s; it formed as the glacier melted, and icebergs float on it in summer. The Blue Lakes are on the way up. See our Tasman Glacier guide.
Kea Point is about 3 km with a 180 m climb, ending at a viewing deck on the Mueller moraine wall facing Mount Sefton, The Footstool, Mueller lake and Aoraki. The Sealy Tarns Track branches off it and climbs about 2,200 steps and 600 m to small alpine tarns. Allow 3 to 4 hours return. It has no shelter, and DOC warns it can need an ice axe and crampons in winter.
The overnight option. The route climbs 1,000 m from the village through Sealy Tarns to a 28-bunk hut on the Sealy Range. DOC says summer (December to February) needs moderate tramping experience and winter needs mountaineering skills, and avalanche danger runs from April to mid-November. Bookings are required from 2 November 2026 to 2 May 2027. Our Mueller Hut guide has the fees.
The flights leave from Aoraki/Mount Cook Airport, about 5 minutes from the village, and from other airfields at Glentanner, Lake Pukaki (Twizel) and Lake Tekapo. Ski-plane landings on the Tasman Glacier began on 22 September 1955, when Harry Wigley landed an Auster with retractable skis; Edmund Hillary flew on a later trip that day. Mount Cook Ski Planes & Helicopters still flies today.
The options run from a 25-minute helicopter flight with an alpine landing to a three-hour heli-hike on the Tasman Glacier. Our Mount Cook scenic flights guide compares them.
The Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, approved in 2012, covers both Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park and the Mackenzie Basin. Step outside the village on a clear night and look up. For telescopes and a guide, the tours we list run from Lake Tekapo and Twizel: see Lake Tekapo stargazing.
Recreational drones are banned everywhere in the park, dogs are not allowed, and a permanent fire ban applies. The village has no supermarket and only a card-only fuel pump, so shop and fill up in Twizel or Tekapo. State Highway 80 can close in snow.
Parking at White Horse Hill is $2.50 a half hour, up to $25 a day, card only (checked November 2026). Booked campers at the White Horse Hill Campground park free in the campsite. For a bed, see our Mount Cook accommodation guide, and for the drive, Christchurch to Mount Cook or Queenstown to Mount Cook.
Day 1: Hooker Valley Track early, before the car park fills. In the afternoon, drive to the Tasman Valley car park for the Blue Lakes and the Tasman Glacier view. Stay up for the stars.
Day 2: Kea Point at sunrise, or Sealy Tarns if your legs are fresh. Keep the late morning for a scenic flight, so a cloudy morning can roll into the afternoon. Stop at Peters Lookout on the way out.
3 hours
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
Check availability25 minutes
The cheapest helicopter time at Mount Cook: a short flight up the Tasman Valley and over a glacier lake to an alpine landing facing Aoraki, with commentary from the pilot.
from$196
Check availability45 minutes
One 45-minute trip that uses both a ski plane and a helicopter, with a landing on the Tasman Glacier; the operator points to this one if you want a snow landing guaranteed year-round.
from$278
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
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Yes, if you like walking or mountains. Aoraki/Mount Cook is New Zealand's highest peak at 3,724 m, and the Hooker Valley Track reaches a glacier lake below it in about 1 h 30 min on a gravel path with swing bridges. DOC says the track draws hundreds of thousands of visitors a year. In low cloud you may not see the summit, so give it a spare day.
One full day covers the Hooker Valley Track and the Tasman Glacier view. Two days let you add Kea Point or Sealy Tarns and keep a spare morning in case cloud hides the mountain or grounds a scenic flight. Add a night at Mueller Hut if you have tramping experience and a booking.
No. New Zealand's national parks are free to enter. What you pay for at Mount Cook is parking: the White Horse Hill car park at the Hooker Valley trailhead costs $2.50 a half hour, up to $25 a day, card only (checked November 2026). Huts and the DOC campground have their own fees.
For a longer walk without a big climb, take the Hooker Valley Track: gravel, some steps and three swing bridges, about 1 h 30 min one way. For something shorter, the Tasman Glacier View Track takes about 15 minutes one way, but it is steep with more than 300 steps. Kea Point is about 3 km with a 180 m climb.
You can, but it is a long day. The drive takes about 3 h 10 min each way, before any walking, and the small-group day tours from Queenstown run about 12 hours. Staying a night in Mount Cook Village or Twizel lets you walk the Hooker Valley Track early and drive back rested.
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.
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.
For a short Mount Cook helicopter tour, book the 25-minute flight with an alpine landing facing Aoraki.
Stay in Aoraki/Mount Cook Village if you want to start the Hooker Valley Track early or arrive by bus.