Sights and landmarks in Fox Glacier

Sights and landmarks in Fox Glacier

1. See

   Gillespies Beach

   An 11-km drive down a twisting unsealed road through a rimu rainforest leads to a camping area. From here, walk a bit more and you'll find yourself on a black sand/quartz pebble beach on the Tasman Sea. Near the beach entrance is the rusted and overgrown historic gold dredge, remnants of an old mining settlement. Several kilometres up the beach you can visit a seal colony on Galway Beach, which is a three-hour round-trip walk. Be warned, the number of sandflies here is ridiculously high at the beach, so don't forget to bring insect repellent!

2. See

   Lake Matheson

   Take the 4.4-km walk around the lake to see the beautiful reflection of Aoraki/Mt Cook and Mt Tasman on its dark waters. The lake was formed during the last Ice Age retreat by Fox Glacier 14,000 years ago. The track is well maintained, and there are boardwalks and specially-made platforms for getting the right angle for your pictures. The best light is at dawn, and it's about 20 minutes to the first lookout (and 20 minutes back if you don't want to walk the whole way) and 40 minutes to a floating pontoon.

3. See

   Peak View Lookout

   Drive down Cook Flat Rd for 10 km west of the township past the Lake Matheson turnoff until it becomes an unsealed road for the best view of the peaks of Aoraki/Mt Cook and Mt Tasman. There's a picnic area and a plane table which can be used to identify the different peaks of the Southern Alps.

4. SeeViewpoint

   Reflection Island

   Lake Matheson

5. SeeViewpoint

   View of Views

6. SeeViewpoint

   Jetty Viewpoint

   Limited wheelchair access

7. SeeViewpoint

   Fox Glacier South Side Viewpoint

8. SeeViewpoint

   Glacier Viewpoint

9. SeeViewpoint

   Minnehaha

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Fox Glacier (CC BY-SA 4.0). Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Place data from Overture Maps.