Franz Josef Glacier / Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere

6 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

Julius von Haast named the glacier in 1865 after the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph; its Māori name is Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere. It flows from the snowfields of the Southern Alps into temperate rainforest and ends less than 300 m above sea level, and DOC describes it as one of the few glacier faces this close to the coast. The village of Franz Josef/Waiau sits on the park boundary, and the glacier access road starts just south of it.

A glacier in retreat

For most of the last two centuries the ice has been shrinking. DOC notes that it pressed against Harper Rock until 1909, and the panels on the Sentinel Rock Walk say it has retreated more than 3 km since then. There were advances in between: a study of the historic length records found that Franz Josef grew by about 1,420 m between 1983 and 1999. The same study called the retreat measured in 2014 the fastest in the records of both Franz Josef and Fox. Glaciologist Brian Anderson has since reported the glacier smaller than at any time since measurements began.

The thinning changed how visitors reach the ice. Guided walks from the valley floor onto the glacier ended in 2012, when the terminal face became unstable and the valley walls, no longer held by ice, shed rock. Today the only ways onto the upper glacier are a helicopter or a ski plane.

The valley walk

The access road leaves State Highway 6 south of the village, crosses the Waiho River bridge and runs 4 km to the car park. It is unsealed, but DOC describes it as suitable for cars, campervans and buses. Parking is paid by card only, and it is free if you leave within ten minutes.

From the car park the Franz Josef Glacier Walk leads through rainforest and along the riverbed to a viewpoint, about 30 minutes return on a track DOC grades Easy. Because the river has moved, the valley beyond the viewpoint is cut off on foot. How far the viewpoint sits from the ice changes with the river and the glacier: the Glacier Country access report of Monday 2 November 2026 gave about 3,000 m, with the road open and the track in good condition. That report is updated each morning and is the place to look before you drive up.

Two short walks branch off near the car park. Sentinel Rock takes about 20 minutes, a short steady climb to a rock smoothed by the ice, with photos on the panels that show where the glacier once reached. Peters Pool is a 1.1 km walk of about 25 minutes. For a longer day, Glacier Country lists the Callery Gorge Walk (5.2 km, about 1 hour 20 minutes) and Roberts Point, a tramp of five to five and a half hours. Roberts Point and Alex Knob climb high above the valley and are for experienced walkers who check the forecast first.

Rules and hazards in the valley

DOC lists rockfall and icefall at the glacier face, cold winds off the ice and rivers that rise quickly during and after heavy rain. Downpours can cause flooding within minutes, and a collapsing ice dam can send water and ice down the valley. The track and the road close when there is flooding, rockfall or a landslide, and DOC places a sign across the track at the limit of safe access. Stay behind the rope barriers, and do not stop in marked rockfall areas.

A few rules apply to the whole valley. There are no rubbish bins, so take everything back with you. Toilets are at the car park only. Do not feed the kea, and do not fly a drone without a permit. The DOC visitor centre at 69 Cron Street in the village has the day's safety information and weather forecast and hires out personal locator beacons.

Onto the ice with a guide

Franz Josef Glacier Guides runs the heli-hike from its base in the village. After you are fitted with boots, crampons and waterproofs, a short walk leads to the helipad, and the flight onto the glacier takes about four minutes each way. You then spend up to 2.5 hours on the ice with a guide, through ice formations and crevasses, and the route depends on the conditions that day. A reasonable level of fitness is needed, and the operator warns that the ice can be steep.

For children, or anyone who would rather not walk for hours, a shorter trip lands on the glacier for 15 minutes on the ice with a guide and is open from 4 years. A small-group version with lunch on the ice spends most of the day up there, with one guide for four guests and a minimum age of 14. Details for every option are on our page on heli-hikes.

Flights with a snow landing

Several helicopter operators check in on Main Road and Cron Street and fly up the glacier to a landing on the snowfields above it. The shortest flights take 20 to 25 minutes. One operator points out that its 25-minute flight has the highest cancellation rate because it has only one route and one landing site, and that in summer the landing may be on rock if there is no snow. Longer flights add the Fox Glacier or the Tasman Glacier, and the 40-minute Main Divide flight lands on the Franz Josef snowfield at around 2,134 m before following the divide towards Aoraki/Mount Cook.

Reviews keep returning to the weather and the seat: a landing can be moved or dropped when cloud sits on the névé, and where you sit decides how much of the glacier you see. Our guide to scenic flights compares the routes.

Flights that cross the Main Divide look down on the Tasman Glacier and Aoraki/Mount Cook. The east side of the range, with Mount Cook Village and the Hooker Valley, is covered by visitmountcook.com.

A guided walk in the valley

Glacier Valley Eco Tours runs a three-hour guided walk that includes a 20-minute drive there and back, with one guide for every ten guests and morning or afternoon tea. It passes podocarp rainforest, the glacial river and an old kettle lake. It does not go onto the ice or close to it. Several reviews say a good part of the three hours is spent driving and stopping, and that the path itself is one you could walk alone; what the tour adds is the guide's explanation of plants, birds and geology.

Pack a rain jacket for any of these. DOC says the park can receive up to five metres of rain a year, and the NIWA station in Franz Josef averaged 5,751 mm over 1981 to 2010. The Fox Glacier valley, about 25 minutes south by car, has a longer walk to its own viewpoint.