Top 10 Glaciers in New Zealand
New Zealand's Southern Alps hold about 3 000 ice bodies, almost all west of the main divide where the Roaring Forties dump prodigious snowfall on peaks just a few kilometres from the Tasman Sea. The result is the only mid-latitude rainforest in the world where you can walk from temperate ferns to crevassed ice in under an hour.
1. Tasman
The country's largest glacier at around 23 km long. Melt has formed a proglacial lake from which boat tours run year-round, with icebergs the size of houses.
2. Franz Josef (Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere)
The iconic West Coast glacier in temperate rainforest, in Westland Tai Poutini National Park. Heli-hike access from the township is the standard visit.
3. Fox (Te Moeka o Tuawe)
Franz Josef's slightly larger twin, 25 km south. Currently more retreated than Franz Josef. The walk-up valley view is reopened seasonally as rockfall risk permits.
4. Murchison
A neighbour of Tasman, accessed on multi-day mountaineering trips. Holds the longest medial moraine in New Zealand.
5. Hooker
A short walk from the Mount Cook village to the Hooker Lake terminus. The icebergs in the lake change the view weekly.
6. Mueller
Visible from the Sealy Tarns track above Mount Cook village. The most photographed glacier balcony in the country.
7. Whymper
A small, retreating glacier in the Whataroa headwaters used as a long study site by GNS Science. Reached only by helicopter.
8. Ramsay
A wild glacier in the upper Rakaia. Climbing focus rather than tourism; no track access.
9. Brewster
A small glacier above Haast Pass with a popular tramping route to a viewing ridge. Excellent overview for non-mountaineers.
10. Volta
A high glacier in the Olivine Wilderness — remote, lonely, and a benchmark for climate-driven retreat.
When to go
December to March (Southern Hemisphere summer) gives long days, settled weather and ferry access. The Tasman boat tours run year-round. Heli-hiking on Franz Josef and Fox is offered most days, weather permitting.
Where will you go first?
Filter to New Zealand on the interactive map to see the full Southern Alps glacier spread, plus the West Coast rainforest approaches and the Mount Cook valley walks.