The Best Hikes in New Zealand

Glacier lookouts

Three of the tracks end facing ice. Rob Roy Glacier Track in Mount Aspiring National Park climbs through beech forest to a lookout opposite a hanging glacier and its waterfalls. Robert's Point Track starts at the Franz Josef Glacier car park and crosses four suspension bridges and a staircase on a cliff face before its viewing platform. The Mueller Hut Route climbs around 2,000 stairs to Sealy Tarns, then boulders and scree to a ridge facing Aoraki/Mount Cook and Mount Sefton.

Huts and DOC

DOC is the Department of Conservation, which looks after the country's tracks and huts. Mueller Hut is one of its mountain huts, and a bed has to be booked with DOC before setting out; the route also works as a day hike of four to six hours return.

Volcanoes and farm tracks

The Tongariro Alpine Crossing runs 19.4 km one way between Mangatepopo and Ketetahi, past Red Crater and the Emerald Lakes. Parking at Mangatepopo is limited to four hours, so walkers take a shuttle. Roys Peak above Lake Wānaka is a wide farm track that climbs about 1,200 m with no shade, and it charges a small track fee.

Rain

Wet weather closes off several routes. The granite slabs on Gertrude Saddle in Fiordland have fixed cables and are dangerous in rain or ice. The rock on Robert's Point Track is slippery during and after rain, and the fords on the 30 km gravel road to the Rob Roy trailhead can become impassable.