1 active Westland Tai Poutini alert
- CautionActive landslide zones on Copland TrackDo not stop in either of Copland Track’s signposted active landslide zones; take extra care during and after heavy rain.Official details
Overview
About Fox Glacier South Side Viewpoint
Why stop
- Glacier, ancient rainforest and moraine on one walk.
Heads up
- A 6.4 km return walk for a glacier that stays hundreds of metres away.
Map
Where it is
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Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Westland Tai Poutini Tour Guide
Your drive to Fox Glacier South Side Viewpoint, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Westland Tai Poutini National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Westland Tai Poutini audio tourRecorded for this place
Fox Glacier South Side: Forest and a Distant View0:00 / 0:26
“You're nearing the start of the Fox Glacier South Side walk, a two-hour return outing through rainforest to a distant glacier view.”
Plays as you drive up to Fox Glacier South Side Viewpoint in the Parkwolf Westland Tai Poutini Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Minnehaha Walk: Rainforest and Glowworms
- Mount Fox Route: a Full Mountain Day
- Which Way Is the Ice Moving?
- Why Crevasses Open
- 49 audio storiesacross Westland Tai Poutini’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Kea, Blue Duck, Kererū, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 31 trails, 53 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
More about Fox Glacier South Side Viewpoint
The final glacier viewFox Glacier South Side Viewpoint is the last of two glacier viewpoints on the south-bank…
Fox Glacier South Side Viewpoint is the last of two glacier viewpoints on the south-bank walkway. It looks up a steep valley to Fox Glacier, Te Moeka o Tuawe, from hundreds of metres away. This is a proper walk for a glacier view, not a quick pullout or a way onto the ice: the return route is 6.4 km and takes about two hours, with roughly 100 m of climbing and descent. It's an easy-to-intermediate track, but allow the time for the full outing.
Keep going past the first viewFrom Fox Glacier township, drive about 2 km south, cross Fox River Bridge and park on the left.
From Fox Glacier township, drive about 2 km south, cross Fox River Bridge and park on the left. The first glacier view is roughly 40 minutes along the track. The final viewpoint is beyond the old car park, another 10 minutes downhill through rainforest. Don't turn around at the first opening if you want the route's last and closest viewpoint. If you're cycling, leave your bike at the old car park and finish this last stretch on foot. DOC lists toilets in the township.
What the forest is growing onThe track follows the south bank of Fox River through ancient podocarp rainforest and crosses…
The track follows the south bank of Fox River through ancient podocarp rainforest and crosses old glacial moraine. The forest has taken root on moraine surfaces of different ages, so this walk is also a look at how the glacier has shaped and left behind the valley. At the end, the trees give way to a wide, rocky foreground and the ice threading between steep mountain walls.
Te Moeka o TuaweFox Glacier's Māori name is Te Moeka o Tuawe.
Fox Glacier's Māori name is Te Moeka o Tuawe. DOC explains that the glacier has added significance for local Māori as the moeka, or final resting place, of their ancestor Tuawe. That story gives the place a meaning beyond the ice and the view.
Stop at the marked viewpointThe glacier face remains hundreds of metres away; this is a valley overlook, not glacier access.
The glacier face remains hundreds of metres away; this is a valley overlook, not glacier access. Stay at the signed viewpoint and don't continue beyond it: DOC warns of extreme flood danger farther up the valley. Heavy rain can raise floodwater within minutes, and glacial rivers can surge. For a photo, keep some moraine in the bottom of the frame and the glacier between the valley walls; a tight crop loses the scale that makes this view work. Dogs aren't allowed on the track.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Westland Tai Poutini
89 sightingsKeaMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
10 sightingsBlue DuckMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
80 sightingsKererūMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
38 sightingsTūīMost seen around 5 AMSighting map
10 sightingsNew Zealand FalconMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
28 sightingsYellow-crowned ParakeetMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Westland Tai Poutini. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
