The lookouts
Views of the ice and peaks.
Rod Waddington from Kergunyah, Australia — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Marshelec — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marshelec — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Michal Klajban — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marshelec — CC BY-SA 4.0
Fox Glacier, officially Fox Glacier / Te Moeka o Tuawe, is a temperate maritime glacier about 11.7 km long as measured in 2022, in Westland Tai Poutini National Park on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is the third largest glacier in the country, covering about 32 square kilometres with its tributaries, and the valley walk starts about 4 km from Fox Glacier village in a straight line. The Māori name means «the bed of Tuawe». In the story, Tuawe was swept to his death by an avalanche while climbing with Hine Hukatere, whose frozen tears became neighbouring Franz Josef Glacier. The English name dates from 1872, after a visit by the then Premier, Sir William Fox. The ice falls from the Southern Alps towards rainforest only about 300 metres above sea level, so the walk runs between towering rock walls and across a stony river bed, with the glacier and snowy peaks closing the end of the valley. The glacier has retreated more than 3 km since the 1880s, so today you see the ice from lookouts at a safe distance. Visitors who want to stand on the ice book a guided helicopter trip in the village. Tracks can close after heavy rain or rockfall, so check the Department of Conservation's notices before you go.
Views of the ice and peaks.
Towering rock and small falls.
A path through rainforest.
Westland Tai Poutini National Park, West Coast, New Zealand
Only on a guided helicopter trip.
Lake Matheson, west of the village.