Fox Glacier Without a Helicopter

You cannot walk on Fox Glacier (Te Moeka o Tuawe) without a helicopter and a guide. The only way onto the ice is a guided heli-hike, and at Fox that means Fox Glacier Guiding’s Fox Glacier Heli-Hike: Up to 3 Hours on the Ice. On foot you can reach viewpoints that look at the glacier from hundreds of meters away, walk around Lake Matheson for the mountain reflections, or join a guided half-day walk that picks you up in Fox. The lowest-priced tour on this site is one of those walks: Glacier Valley Eco Tours’ Fox Glacier: Half-Day Walking & Nature Tour with Local Guide, from $65 per person and rated 4.7 from 188 GetYourGuide reviews. None of the walks takes you onto the ice, and all of them still run on the days the helicopters stay on the ground.

Quick picks

• Free, on your own: the South Side Walkway, about 40 minutes from a trailhead 2 km south of the township to the first glacier viewpoint.
• Mountain reflections: Lake Matheson, a 4.4 km loop of about an hour and a half, at its best at dawn or dusk on a still day.
• A guide, rain gear and a lift from Fox: the half-day walking tour, from $65, 3.5 hours, up to 10 people.
• Lake Matheson with a guide: the Lake Matheson nature tour, from $68, 4 hours.
• On the ice itself: the Fox heli-hike, from $483, with up to 3 hours on the glacier, weather permitting.

Why no walking route reaches the ice

The road up the Fox Glacier valley to the old glacier car park was damaged by floods and a landslide in early 2019 and has been closed since. The slip, known as Alpine Gardens, holds an estimated 50 to 70 million cubic meters of rock, and rebuilding the road was costed at about NZ$16 million. DOC said in 2019 that the road would stay closed indefinitely, and that is still its latest published position.

Some older question-and-answer pages say you can still walk onto Fox Glacier from the valley. That stopped being possible when the road went. Today you either look at the glacier from a viewpoint, or you fly onto it with a guide, crampons and steps cut ahead of you.

The South Side Walkway

DOC’s South Side Walkway/Cycleway gives you the closest public view. The trailhead is 2 km south of the township, across the Fox River bridge. Allow about 40 minutes to the first viewpoint, then about 10 minutes downhill to the final one. Bikes are allowed only as far as the old car park.

The viewpoints are hundreds of meters from the glacier face. At the end, a sign tells you not to go past that point because of extreme flood hazard. Stop there: the river can rise without warning, and in 2009 two visitors died after crossing the barriers to reach the face. DOC closes the track when rockfall or flooded rivers make it unsafe, so check its status on the day. Flying a drone needs a permit.

Pack a waterproof layer whatever the forecast. Fox township averages about 5,000 mm of rain a year, and DOC warns that heavy rain can arrive in any season. Sandflies are common, so bring repellent.

Lake Matheson and Peak Viewpoint

Lake Matheson is about 5 km from the village, a five-minute drive. The loop is 4.4 km and takes about 1 hour 30 minutes. Short of time? Walk the first section to Jetty Lookout, 2.4 km return, about 45 minutes and wheelchair accessible. DOC says dawn and dusk on a fine, windless day give the best mirror reflections of Aoraki/Mt Cook and Mt Tasman. Parking is free, and the track is busy from November to April. The café by the car park lists different opening hours on different websites, so check before you plan a meal around it.

Peak Viewpoint, 9 km from Fox Glacier toward the coast, looks up at the Fox névé and the main range, and DOC rates it best at sunset on a cloudless day. Lake Gault is a longer walk that branches off the Lake Matheson track.

The two guided half-day walks

Glacier Valley Eco Tours runs both from its base in Franz Josef. If you are staying in Fox, the guide collects you from the meeting point in the township or from your accommodation, which saves the 30-minute drive each way that Franz Josef guests sit through.

The walking and nature tour lasts 3.5 hours with up to 10 people. Fox pickup is at the DOC building at 2 pm, and you are back at about 5 pm. The trail climbs gently through rata and rimu forest toward views of the upper glacier, the Fox névé and Mt Tasman. Your guide covers glaciation, plants and birds, there is a geothermal spring to dip a hand in, and a break with tea, coffee or hot chocolate and a biscuit. Raincoats, waterproof pants, umbrellas, poles and tramping boots are supplied. The listing says plainly that the group goes no closer than the public viewpoint, and a few reviewers felt much of the route followed a public track they could have walked alone. Book it for the guide’s knowledge and the pickup.

The Lake Matheson tour lasts 4 hours, also for up to 10, from $68. It has only 18 reviews so far, rated 4.8. The listing recommends the early evening for reflections. Boots can be borrowed only at the Franz Josef office, so Fox pickups should wear their own walking shoes and ask ahead for a raincoat in their size.

Both walks go ahead in all weather, including some weather warnings. Cancel on the day because of heavy rain and you get no refund; if the operator cancels for weather, a road closure or a DOC closure, you get your money back. GetYourGuide’s free cancellation up to 24 hours before still applies.

Your backup when the helicopter cannot fly

Fox Glacier Guiding makes its final weather call 10 minutes before departure and refunds a cancelled heli-hike in full. Book the hike for the first full day of your stay, keep the next day free for a rebooking, and have a ground plan ready. The heli-hike leaves at 8:50 am and 11:50 am, and the guided walk collects Fox guests at 2 pm, so a morning cancellation still leaves time to join it. Lake Matheson and the South Side Walkway need no booking at all.

If the cloud lifts but the heli-hike is full, a short scenic flight with snow landing from Fox township takes 25 minutes, from $225; see Fox Glacier helicopter flights. Staying in Franz Josef? The Franz Josef heli-hike checks in there, about 25 minutes north. Our weather guide explains how cancellations work.

All Fox Glacier tours at a glance

• Heli-hike from Fox: one on GetYourGuide, up to 3 hours on the ice, from $483.
• Helicopter flights from Fox: a 25-minute flight with a snow landing, and a 35-minute flight that also passes Aoraki/Mt Cook.
• Twin-glacier flights over Fox and Franz Josef: all three compared on this site depart Franz Josef.
• Walks without a helicopter: the two guided half-day walks above, with pickup in Fox.
• From Queenstown: a fly-in day to the Franz Josef heli-hike, covered on our Queenstown page.

Each one has its own page on our tours list, and the which-tour guide sets all eleven side by side. Arriving by road? How to get to Fox Glacier has the drive times. When you have a date for the walk, check availability.