Well worth the hike. We woke in Twizel and saw that it was overcast. Thought we better go to Mt Cook Village anyway since it was an hour away and the weather changes so much. Once there the skies cleared and we started the walk in pants, a quarter the way there we realized we should of worn shorts. We walked quickly and got to the lake after only 1hr 15 mins. Stayed for lunch for a half an hour then headed back. We could hear thunder over the mountains on the westcoast while we hiked, but it was blue skies with a tiny bit of cloud. Well worth the hike. Then we walked the blue pools/Tasman Glacier track just a short drive away.
I loved this 3h walk. You walk over glacier water, you see and hear ice falling down...You walk (in summer) in your t-shirt surrounded by ice. I did a lot of harder walks, but it's nice that even an easy walk can be amazing.
If you can walk a golf course you should have no trouble completing this walk. It's a good idea to start out early as while we were here the peak of Mount Cook was clear whereas later in the days it was covered in cloud. More importantly there are far fewer walkers. A lot of people were starting out by mid-morning. The scenery on a clear morning is stunning.
The track is gentle, mostly flat and well maintained, suitable for all. Stunning views along the walk, moraine, mountain, glacier, streams, rivers, swing bridge, waterfalls.
Easy walk, but please remember, you are in the mountains, so be prepared even on a short walk. The views are stunning.
This is the best and most popular walk to view Mount Cook. It's about 3 hours in total, if you're stopping for photos etc. (1.5 hrs each way). About halfway through, Mount Cook comes into view in all its stunning and picturesque glory. At the end of the track you come to a glacier lake which is a good place to have lunch if you've brought some, skim stones, and take pictures. If you're lucky you might see an ice shelf melt into the lake. The walk was very easy, mostly flat, with some cool suspended bridges.There isn't a lot of shade so if you're going in the summer, bring sun cream, hats and sunglasses, and a bottle of water. Make sure you go to the toilet beforehand; there is one toilet two thirds of the way through but it's not exactly pleasant!
Although a bit like the pavement of Oxford Street at times with the many walkers, this 5km path (each way) is gentle and well engineered with fantastic views of Mount Cook after the second of the (windy) swing bridges. Many interesting plants. A magnficent walk
Great walk, track well maintained. Took a 6 and a 9 year old all the way to the glacier. Loved the bridges it just long enough for them to feel like they had acheived something awesome. My GPS said around 7.6km. Was very windy, had to hold on to the 6 year old in case he got blown away. A must do at Mt Cook. We left early in the morning and had the track to ourselves. be careful of the tour buses that seemed to arrive from 9.30 - 10.00am onwards they tend to fill the track and blocked it on occasions for lots of selfies! Great to see all sorts of people enjoying nature but if you truly want the solitude that Aoraki demands then go early.
Of my 5 weeks in New Zealand this was my favourite day. It took us about 5hrs with numerous stops for pictures and we hiked from the Visitor Centre. I would highly recommend doing this walk/hike. We packed a lunch and brought water, there was one washroom stop along the way.
We did this walk in the morning on 30/01/15It was overcast with low cloud and drizzling on and off, we parked at the car park nearest the valley. We set off at 8:50 and arrived at the glacier lake at 10:05, had a wonder down to the shore line and set off back at 10:20. We arrived back at the car park at 11:20.It was a very brisk walk for us as we had a long drive ahead, so did not really have the time to dawdle, although we did take lots of photos along the way. It was not particularly busy, but that was probably die to the weather, but still worthwhile the trek, very Lord of the Rings in atmosphere. If you hear thunder it is the sound of the glacier movement.