The drive to/from Mt Cook NP runs along the stunning blue Lake Pukaki with opportunities to stop…read moreand take photos. Roads were sealed and in good condition. It was a 1 hour plus drive to reach the NP from the SH8 turnoff. The parking lots were pre-paid ($5NZD per hour) but you could park along the road for free. Parking lots were gravel and potholed in places so watch out. We visited in mid fall and had rain showers and low cloud cover the entire time we walked three different trails. While we couldn't see Mount Cook we did enjoy the beautiful scenery. There were multiple hiking trails from the main parking lot. The Kea Point Track was shortest one at one hour return. It was a relatively easy trail that took us to a lookout overlooking the rubble left behind by the Mueller Glacier which had receded out of view. Views of Mt Sefton and Mt Cook would've been nice. The Hooker Valley Track was the most popular but not open fully. However the new bridges and reconstruction of the trail should wrap up later in the year. We reached the first swing bridge (guideline no more than 20 people at a time) and continued until the fenced off portion to see the other side of Lake Mueller. The Tasman Glacier track was our final hike and was separate drive to a much smaller lot (free parking). It was short, around 30 minutes one way to the lookout, but the hardest part were the many stairs up. This trail brought us the closest to the glaciers (relatively speaking) and a few chunks of ice were floating nearby (separate track to go down to the beach). The final stop was the visitor center in the village, another drive away. It contained some very informative exhibits on Mount Cook, native plants and animals, as well as becoming a park and destination. Definitely a must see when you're in NZ. We would come back again for a repeat in sunnier weather.

If you so happen perchance to be on the South Island in New Zealand …read more... Visit the Mount Cook National Park it is a spectacular place to visit, hike, and just marvel in the majestic mountains. The Hooker trail is the most prevalent trail and it is an easy 7 mile back and forth journey. The end is an unbelievably beautiful glacial lake and you can even see the glacier at the end. Gets insanely crowded. Pack a lunch, water, and sunscreen

Another hike that might not be top of your list ( Milford and Routeburn the tops) but if you want…read moreamazing views of Mt Cook this is the one. Easy hike that crosses some really cook bridges and rivers. The end is a gorgeous glacial lake. Pack a lunch and enjoy the views

Of all the places to hike this is one you will want to get up early to do. We started our hike at…read more7:3am to miss the crowds and be able to see and hear God's beautiful creation. This place is totally amazing! Layer your clothes and take water. When your body warns up you can take off. There are toilets available before your hike. Campground is also located there if your the camper type. About an hour into the hike they currently have the trail closed due to repairs to the bridge. After the hike we drove over to the cafe for hot tea and coffee. Enjoy!

We did the short walk to Peter's pool, with nice views, then carried on to the other short walks…read morewith views of Franz Josef glacier. These paths were very easy 20 minute walks suitable for anyone.

We were supposed to take a helicopter ride and do a guided hike on the glacier, but our trip was…read morecancelled due to low clouds that would have made flying unsafe. The staff at the company offered a guided valley floor walk for a fee, but they kindly noted that the trail on the valley floor was part of the national park, and was free of charge if we wanted to just drive there and walk on our own (since we did have a car!) We were very thankful for the tip! This is an absolutely beautiful park! Yes, driving there does involve a few of New Zealand's famous one-way bridges, but it is worth it! The Franz Josef Glacier Valley Walk takes hikers past what the glacier left behind; geology buffs would go nuts for this! For the average person, the colors and patterns on the rocks are beautiful! There are some beautiful waterfalls along the way, and the ever changing pattern of the water in the valley floor will keep hikers on their toes! Signs are posted that give current trail conditions, and warn if flood risk is likely; as long as risk is low, it seems the worst that happens is that you may have dry shoes hiking out, but soggy ones coming back! The valley floor is very exposed, so sunscreen, a hat and water are a good idea. The views of the glacier are beautiful! The trail ends about 750m from the glacier, so, no, you don't get to walk on it, but you do get to see it pretty well! We also did the Douglas Walk to Peter's Pool which was another pretty view of the glacier reflected in the pond. As an added bonus, this trail is through the rain forest. We enjoyed the plants and birds a great deal! Finally, after dark, we did the Terrance Walk to see the glow worms. This is definitely worth doing; bring a flashlight so you don't trip, but then turn it off to enjoy the glow worm show! Trails are all nicely maintained and clearly marked! This ended up being a great plan B when our trip was cancelled!

Thank you to NZ for making so many natural wonders free to access and visit!…read more We were excited to see the glaciers, and did the short hike to a viewpoint for Franz Josef Glacier. Sadly, the glacier has receded quite a bit, and the viewing spot doesn't get you anywhere near it so it's a bit anticlimactic. The clouds covered the view about an hour later. If you're really excited about glaciers in NZ and aren't going to the Mt. Cook area, I'd recommend doing a helicopter ride and glacier tour to get up close - otherwise you may feel it's a bit average from the viewpoint.

Hiked up to this glacier in the middle of February. We got to the area around 10am and finished…read morearound noon. You could definitely finish in less time; we stopped to take a lot of photos. The area is fairly level throughout but with no benches along the path. The trail is mostly loose gravel so I would definitely recommend hiking shoes. Bring a raincoat! I wouldn't say this hike is stroller friendly but it's definitely suitable for young kids. You don't need walking sticks unless you have trouble walking normally. - Definitely start before noon! There had to be quadruple the amount of people entering the park than leaving the park around this time. When we left around noon the parking lot was nearly full. The parking lot was massive. - Free entry - There are 3 public restrooms at the trailhead. Pretty typical for the NZ public parks, no soap available so bring your hand sanitizer! - No drone zone (due to helicopters). You will be fined $5,000 if caught with a drone. - Follow the IG account poutiniranger for details of their talks and free guided nature walks

We really enjoyed our time here! This is a great spot to take a day off NZ hiking and relax…read more We wanted to make the most of our day here and spend a good 4+ hours onsite, relaxing in the pools. I appreciate that they had a variety of temperatures so you could swim in a cooler pool, then move to warmer ones, and switch on and off. There were a good amount of kids here, but the warmest one was adults only. I wished they had more chairs for laying out and putting things near - they were pretty limited. The area was beautifully kept, with greenery and rocks and decor. One of our favorite parts was the sauna, steam room and cold plunge. This was an added cost but gave us some variety in the day and the cold plunge was a great reset to go back out in the hot springs. They close the cooler pool and one of the others before the end of the day, which was where we had our chairs and towels/personal items, so we had to move our stuff towards the end of the day. We didn't do a massage or the night experience, but you can add those on too. These are marketed as hot springs, and while I do think they are naturally heated, I think they may also use chlorine or cleaning chemicals - which I totally get with that many bodies in and out each day.

After a long day of driving from Te Anau, we wanted to relax. We were under the impression these…read morewere natural hot springs but it's not: clearly chlorinated hot tubs (just FYI if you thought you were getting natural hot springs), nonetheless it's a nice relaxing experience. They have two warm pools at 37 and 38 degrees Celsius but only one is adult only (if you are trying to have some "me" time and don't want screaming children in the water). The decor and ambiance feels a bit like a water park but the adult only hot pool is quite peaceful even though you can hear the screaming children one pool away. Downside is that there is an upcharge for everything: from towels to lockers to even using the sauna or steamroom, there's an extra fee for that.

Honestly, this was a boring walk, we only added it to our Mt. Cook Hiking experience because we…read moremanaged to finish all the other trails and figured why not- I would not go out of my way to make time for the walk. Marked as easy, this was not a flat path walk- it had many moments of steep stair incline, and rocky, gravely path moments of navigation- there wasn't much to see in the way of views, mainly just inner forest bush. There's no peak top, just an average loop through. About 30min return.