Guided walks at Franz Josef and Fox Glacier

6 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

The guided walks around Franz Josef and Fox Glacier are run by one company, Glacier Valley Eco Tours, from its base in Franz Josef. If you are staying in Fox, the guide collects you there, at the meeting point in the township or from your accommodation. Each tour combines a drive with a walk of a few kilometres on DOC tracks, and the guide carries rain jackets, umbrellas, walking poles, sunscreen, sandfly repellent and hot drinks, with boots on loan if you need them.

Before you book, note that none of these walks reach the glacier. The Franz Josef tour lists walking on the glacier, touching the ice and getting close to it as not included. Since 2012 at Franz Josef and 2014 at Fox, the ice can only be reached by helicopter, and the DOC tracks end at viewpoints well short of the terminal face. On the Glacier Country access report for 2 November 2026, the Franz Josef viewpoint stood about 3,000 metres from the ice and the Fox viewpoint about 2,600 metres.

Franz Josef Glacier valley

The three-hour Franz Josef walk includes a 20-minute return drive to the start of the track. From there the guide leads you through ancient podocarp rainforest, along a glacier-fed river and to an old kettle lake. There is one guide for every ten guests, morning or afternoon tea is served, and the DOC parking fee is covered.

Reviews give the guides the credit: their knowledge of plants, birds and geology, and side trips off the main path. The criticism is about the walking itself. One guest says only about half of the three hours was spent on foot, one estimated the walk at about 3 km from the car park, and others had expected a glacier walk. Book it for the explanation, not for the exercise.

Fox Glacier valley

The Fox tour runs for four hours, with a drive of about 30 minutes each way from Franz Josef. The walk is a gentle, gradual climb through rainforest to views of the upper Fox Glacier, the Fox Névé and Mount Tasman, and on the way there is a chance to put your hand into a geothermal spring. Tea, coffee or hot chocolate and biscuits come with it. The operator describes it as suitable for all ages and fitness levels.

Reviewers who were less happy point to the time in the vehicle, about an hour of a three and a half hour outing in one case, and to a path they felt they could have walked without a guide. If you are staying in Fox, the pickup in the township cuts the driving.

Lake Matheson in the evening

Lake Matheson lies near Fox Glacier, about 30 minutes’ drive from Franz Josef. The track is one of New Zealand’s Great Short Walks, inside the Te Wāhipounamu World Heritage Area, and loops around the lake on bridges and boardwalks. DOC gives the full circuit as 4.4 km and about 90 minutes, and the jetty lookout as 2.4 km return in 45 minutes, wheelchair-accessible. On a still day the dark water mirrors Aoraki/Mount Cook and Mount Tasman. The four-hour guided tour is graded for beginners, and the operator suggests the early-evening departure for the best chance of reflections.

Ōkārito with a guide

Ōkārito, the old gold-mining settlement on the coast north of Franz Josef, has its own half-day tour by the same company. You can join at the base in Franz Josef, at the Ōkārito turn-off on State Highway 6 at 10:45 or at the historic wharf shed in Ōkārito at 11:00. The guide covers rainforest, estuary, cliffs and wetland, the mining history and birds such as the white heron, kea, fernbird and kākāriki, and the tour includes planting at the community nursery. Groups are capped at ten.

The free DOC walks

You can walk many of the same tracks on your own. The Franz Josef Glacier access road runs 4 km south of the village over the Waiho River bridge; it is unsealed but fine for cars and campervans, and the car park charges by the half hour, card only. From there the valley walk to the glacier viewpoint takes about 30 minutes return, and the Sentinel Rock walk climbs for 20 minutes to boards with photos of the glacier’s retreat. The Terrace Walk on the edge of the village takes 30 minutes, and after dark you can look for glow-worms with a torch.

At Fox, the South Side Walk starts at a car park 2 km south of the township beyond the Fox River bridge and takes about two hours return. In Fox, the Minnehaha Walk is a 20-minute loop suitable for wheelchairs and buggies, and it is another place to see glow-worms with a torch after dark. North of Franz Josef, the Ōkārito Trig Walk climbs gently for 90 minutes to views over the lagoons and the Southern Alps.

DOC’s rules in the valleys are firm. Rivers can flood within minutes in heavy rain, so do not cross the Waiho or Callery on foot, never step past a barrier and do not stop in marked rockfall zones. Check the daily access report before you set out, and do not feed the kea. There is more on each valley on our Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier pages.