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. The car park next to it charges $2.50 a half hour, up to $25 a day, card only. Booked campers park free in the campsite.
White Horse Hill Campground is the Department of Conservation (DOC) campsite at the end of Hooker Valley Road, 2.5 km from Aoraki/Mount Cook Village, right at the start of the Hooker Valley Track. It has 72 non-powered and tent sites, costs $20 a night for adults, and must be booked online. The car park in front of it is the trailhead car park for the Hooker Valley, Kea Point, Sealy Tarns and Mueller Hut walks, and it charges $2.50 a half hour, up to $25 a day.
If you have a campsite booking, you don’t pay for parking: DOC tells booked campers to park in the campsite area.
Checked November 2026 on DOC’s campsite page:
| Who | Fee per night |
|---|---|
| Adult (18+) | $20 |
| Child (5 to 17) | $10 |
| Infant (0 to 4) | Free |
| Phone or visitor-centre booking | $10 service fee on top |
The DOC Campsite Pass is accepted, but you still have to book online before you take a site. Without a booking, campground staff can book you in if they are there, for a $10 charge, and sites may not be available.
DOC is blunt about it: the campsite is often full all year, and no spaces are kept for campers who arrive without a booking. If no availability shows online for your dates, it is full.
Arriving outside check-in hours? Use the White Horse Hill car park until 2 pm, and pay the parking fee.
The site has treated drinking water, a cooking shelter and basic toilets. It has no power and no showers. Coin and card showers are at the public shelter in the village, 2.5 km away.
Facilities shrink from June to August: flush toilets are swapped for pit toilets and there is no running water (fill up at the shelter in the village).
The rules are stricter than at a holiday park:
Shop before you arrive. The village has a petrol station and a few places to eat, but the nearest supermarket is in Twizel, about 70 km and an hour’s drive away by DOC’s figures.
This is the main car park for the Hooker Valley Track, Kea Point, the Sealy Tarns Track and Mueller Hut. DOC began charging here on 15 December 2025 as a pilot, and on 2 July 2026 it said paid parking would continue, now in half-hour steps.
Checked November 2026 on DOC’s paid car parks page:
| Item | Charge |
|---|---|
| Per half hour | $2.50 |
| Maximum per day | $25, unlimited entry and exit that day |
| Drop-off and pick-up | Free for the first 20 minutes |
| Overnight (two days) | $50 |
| General annual permit | $60 a year, one vehicle, this site only, online only |
| Mackenzie District residents’ permit | $10, up to two vehicles, online only |
| Breach notice | $75 |
The machines take debit and credit cards, not cash. Cameras record when you drive in and out, and the clock starts at the entrance. EVs parked in the charging bays pay too. A permit doesn’t guarantee a space, and you can’t pre-book one.
Parking pays for a few hours here. The Hooker Valley Track is about 5 km each way to Hooker Lake, about 1 h 30 min one way by DOC’s timings. Three hours in the car park costs $15 at the half-hour rate, and the daily cap of $25 kicks in after five hours. The new 189 m suspension bridge on the track, which DOC calls the longest in New Zealand, opened on 28 July 2026.
DOC says the car park doesn’t keep up with demand on busy days, and it estimated about 700 vehicles a day at peak. Arrive early. When it is full, park only on the designated roadside, not on the verge wherever there’s a gap.
For the Tasman Glacier View Track and the Blue Lakes, turn off State Highway 80 onto Tasman Valley Road just before the village. DOC puts the road-end car park about 7 km along; the AA and others say about 8 km, partly unsealed. It was not on DOC’s paid list in November 2026, but DOC was due to name more paid sites in mid-November 2026, so check before you go. Toilets close in winter and there is no drinking water. See our Tasman Glacier guide.
The Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park Visitor Centre at 1 Larch Grove has a car park with the village’s two EV charge points. We couldn’t confirm its fees or time limits. The centre is open 8:30 am to 5 pm from October to April and 8:30 am to 4:30 pm from May to September.
Your choices are a bed in the village or a holiday park further out. Glentanner Park Centre, about 15 minutes south of the village on Lake Pukaki, has 60 powered sites as well as tent sites and cabins. Twizel, 45 to 50 minutes away, has a holiday park and hotels. Our Mount Cook accommodation guide compares them.
Freedom camping is not an option at the trailhead: DOC bans overnight camping in its paid car parks, even with a permit.
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Yes. DOC says the campsite is often full all year and must be booked in advance to guarantee a site. No spaces are kept for people who turn up without a booking. Book online; phone and visitor-centre bookings cost a $10 service fee. Same-day online bookings are possible until 8 pm if any sites are left.
The White Horse Hill car park costs $2.50 a half hour, with a maximum of $25 a day and the first 20 minutes free (checked November 2026). Machines take debit and credit cards only, and cameras record when you enter and leave. Staying past what you paid for can bring a $75 breach notice. Booked campers park in the campsite area instead.
No. The campsite has treated drinking water, a cooking shelter and basic toilets, but no showers and no power. Hot showers, one coin-operated and one card-operated, are at the public shelter in Aoraki/Mount Cook Village, 2.5 km away. In winter, from June to August, the flush toilets are replaced by pit toilets and there is no running water.
No. DOC does not allow overnight camping in the paid car park, even if you have paid the charge or hold an annual permit. Book a site in the campground next door, which you reach by driving through the car park. If the campground is full, Glentanner Park Centre, about 15 minutes south of the village, has powered and tent sites.
DOC says the busiest period is from Christmas to mid-February, and it suggests mid-February to Easter as a quieter time to come. Even then, book ahead: the campsite is often full all year. Bookings were open for stays up to 30 June 2027 when we checked in November 2026.
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.
Stay in Aoraki/Mount Cook Village if you want to start the Hooker Valley Track early or arrive by bus.
Mueller Hut is a 28-bunk DOC alpine hut on the Sealy Range above Aoraki/Mount Cook Village.
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.