How to get to Fox Glacier: drive times, buses and the nearest airports
How to get to Fox Glacier from Queenstown, Wanaka, Franz Josef, Hokitika, Greymouth and Christchurch: drive times, buses, airports and the valley road.
Drive if you can. Fox Glacier township sits on State Highway 6 on the South Island’s West Coast, the only road into the national park: about 25 minutes from Franz Josef to the north, roughly four and a half hours from Queenstown and about 3 hours 15 minutes from Wanaka to the south. InterCity buses stop in the village, the nearest commercial airport is Hokitika, and you cannot drive up the valley to the glacier itself, because that road has been closed since 2019.
Plan on two nights in Fox if a heli-hike is the reason for the trip. The weather cancels flights at short notice, and a spare day is the only cure. On the day you arrive, Lake Matheson is a five-minute drive away, and Glacier Valley Eco Tours’ Lake Matheson Half-Day Nature Tour near Fox Glacier collects you from your accommodation in Fox, from $68 per person.
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Where Fox Glacier is, and the one road in
Fox Glacier (Te Moeka o Tuawe) runs down from the Southern Alps into Westland Tai Poutini National Park, part of the Te Wāhipounamu South West New Zealand World Heritage Area. The glacier is roughly 12 to 13 km long. The village beside it was called Weheka until the 1940s and had 189 residents at the 2023 census, so expect a small place: a main road with accommodation, a store, a fuel station, a medical clinic and the guiding and helicopter bases.
State Highway 6 is the only road access to the park. From the north it comes down the coast from Hokitika and Greymouth, and from the south it comes over from Wanaka through Haast. From the Christchurch side you cross the Alps on State Highway 73 over Arthur’s Pass to Kumara Junction, then turn south on State Highway 6. Every route into Fox therefore ends on the same coastal highway, and a single slip can close it. Slips at Omoeroa and in the Fox Hills have shut the stretch between Franz Josef and Fox before, with no detour, so check NZTA’s live road map on the morning you travel.
Franz Josef, the larger of the two glacier towns, is about 24 km north. The two are close enough to treat as one base: Franz Josef has more accommodation and more facilities, and Fox is quieter. Many glacier trips cross between them. Fox Glacier Guiding’s heli-hike and two scenic flights leave from Fox, while the Franz Josef heli-hikes and all three twin-glacier flights we cover depart Franz Josef.
Driving from Queenstown, Wanaka and Haast
Most visitors who reach Fox from the south start in Queenstown or Wanaka. Glacier Country, the regional tourism body, gives 3 hours 14 minutes and 262 km from Wanaka to Fox, and 4 hours 40 minutes and 351 km from Queenstown to Franz Josef. You pass through Fox about 25 minutes before Franz Josef, so the Queenstown to Fox drive comes to roughly four and a half hours without stops. With photo stops and lunch it fills most of a day. One tour listing quotes six hours; use the regional figure for the driving and add your own stops.
Haast is the last town of any size on the way, about 120 km and nearly two hours south of Fox. Fuel up there or in Wanaka. In Fox, Fox Glacier Motors sells fuel with a small convenience store, and the next pumps are at Franz Josef to the north and Haast to the south. Glacier Country says Haast has limited mobile coverage, so download your maps before you leave Wanaka.
From Queenstown there is also a way to reach the glaciers without the drive. True South Flights sells a fly-in day that crosses the Alps by plane to Franz Josef for about 2 hours on Franz Josef Glacier, though not Fox. It is the most expensive tour on this site, and our Queenstown page sets it against driving to Fox and booking the hike there.
If you drive down from the north instead, the coast road from Hokitika runs about 2 hours to Fox. The sources disagree by a few kilometers on the distance, so allow a little more.
Drive times to Fox Glacier
Times are driving only, without stops, from Glacier Country and DOC. Where a figure is ours, we added or took away the Fox to Franz Josef leg from the published Franz Josef time and rounded it.
| From | Distance | Driving time | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franz Josef | 24 km | About 25 minutes | Glacier Country |
| Haast | About 120 km | Nearly 2 hours | DOC |
| Hokitika | About 160 to 170 km | About 2 hours | Sources differ |
| Greymouth | About 200 km | About 2.5 hours | Franz Josef figure plus 24 km |
| Wanaka | 262 km | 3 hours 14 minutes | Glacier Country |
| Queenstown | About 330 km | Roughly 4.5 hours | Franz Josef figure less 24 km |
| Christchurch | About 405 km | About 5.5 hours | Via Arthur’s Pass |
Two reminders for the road. The West Coast is wet, with about 5,000 mm of rain a year in Fox township, and heavy rain can fall in any season, so drive to the conditions. Sandflies are common at every stop, and DOC suggests insect repellent.
By bus and train
InterCity runs coaches to Fox Glacier, and its main stop is on Main Road outside the Fox Glacier Guides building, the same place the heli-hike checks in. InterCity’s journey times to Fox are:
- From Franz Josef: about 35 minutes.
- From Greymouth: about 4 hours 10 minutes.
- From Wanaka: about 5 hours 40 minutes.
- From Queenstown: about 7 hours 15 minutes.
From Christchurch, the TranzAlpine train crosses Arthur’s Pass to Greymouth in about 4 hours, and InterCity sells a train and bus combination down the coast; its timing to Franz Josef is about 9 hours with transfers, so allow a full day to reach Fox. InterCity’s own pages differ by a few minutes between routes, so confirm the timings on InterCity’s site before you plan the day around them.
Without a car, the heli-hike and the Fox flights are still easy, because they start in the township. The two guided walks with Glacier Valley Eco Tours also pick up in Fox. The twin-glacier flights and Franz Josef heli-hikes need a lift to Franz Josef, 35 minutes by coach.
By air
The nearest commercial airport is Hokitika, which has daily flights from Christchurch. Glacier Country lists Queenstown and Christchurch as the next nearest, and both have far more flights; from either one the road trip above takes most of a day. Coming from Auckland or another North Island city, you fly to one of those three and drive or bus the rest.
Fox Glacier has a small aerodrome, used by the helicopter and scenic flight operators. The Queenstown fly-in day lands its plane a 15-minute bus ride from Franz Josef township, not at Fox.
Can you drive to the glacier itself?
No. You can drive to Fox township, but not up the valley to the glacier. The access road to the old glacier car park flooded repeatedly in early 2019 and was then destroyed by the Alpine Gardens landslide, which holds an estimated 50 to 70 million cubic meters of rock. Repair was costed at about NZ$16 million, and DOC announced that the road would stay closed indefinitely. That 2019 statement is still its latest published position.
The closest you can now get on foot is the South Side Walkway. Its trailhead is 2 km south of the township across the Fox River bridge, and the first glacier viewpoint is about 40 minutes’ walk away. The viewpoints are hundreds of meters from the ice, and a sign near the end warns of extreme flood hazard beyond it. Stop there. In 2009 two visitors died after crossing the barriers to reach the glacier face.
For a wider view, drive 9 km toward the coast to Peak Viewpoint, which looks up at the Fox névé and the main range and is best at sunset on a cloudless day. Lake Matheson, about 5 km from the village, reflects Aoraki/Mt Cook and Mt Tasman on a still morning or evening. Our page on Fox Glacier without a helicopter covers every walk and the guided options. Standing on the ice takes a heli-hike, with a guide and crampons.
Services in Fox township
Fox is small, so arrive with what you need.
- Fuel: Fox Glacier Motors on the main road, with a convenience store.
- Groceries: the Fox Glacier Store.
- Medical: Fox Glacier Clinic on Main Road, (03) 751 0836.
- Cash: we could not confirm an ATM in the village, so carry a card that works in New Zealand.
- Phone: Glacier Country says the village has coverage from the major providers.
- Visitor information: DOC’s national park visitor center is in Franz Josef, at 69 Cron Street.
For accommodation, see where to stay in Fox Glacier.
How many nights to plan for a heli-hike
Two nights at least. Fox Glacier Guiding asks you to book the heli-hike once your dates in Fox are fixed and to take your first day in town, because the trip depends on the weather. It makes the final call 10 minutes before departure and refunds a weather cancellation in full. Departures are at 8:50 am and 11:50 am, with check-in 20 minutes before at 44 Main Road, and the trip takes up to about 4 hours.
That timing shapes your arrival. Even with an early start from Queenstown or Christchurch, you are unlikely to reach Fox in time to check in for 11:50 am, so the hike goes on the morning after you arrive. A second night gives you a rebooking day if the helicopters stay grounded, and a free day for the walks if they do not. With one night you get a single attempt.
A simple plan from the south:
- Day one: drive from Queenstown or Wanaka and walk to Lake Matheson at dusk.
- Day two: the Fox heli-hike, up to 3 hours on the ice, weather permitting.
- Day three: the rebooking slot, or the South Side Walkway, then drive north through Franz Josef.
If the forecast looks poor, our weather guide explains how cancellations work, and the which-tour guide lists every option from Fox and Franz Josef.
Pick Your Day on the Ice
Heli-hikes run on the weather, so book an early day of your stay and keep one free. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
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