Roberts Point Lookout

Roberts Point Lookout is a platform above Franz Josef Glacier / Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere, reached at the end of Roberts Point Track. From the lookout, the ice lies below steep rock walls, waterfalls and mountain peaks. The approach is a 12.3 km return hike, rated advanced, with a 5 hour 20 minute estimate. This is a full outing for fit hikers, not a quick glacier stop, and the lookout does not give access onto the ice.

The track has unbridged stream crossings and smooth, ice-polished slabs that become treacherous when wet or icy. Several people have died on the route. Choose a fine, dry day, check conditions before setting out, and turn back if a crossing is unsafe. DOC recommends good fitness and grippy boots; give the rough descent enough time as well as the climb.

From Franz Josef Glacier car park, the route follows the easier Douglas Walk to Douglas Bridge, then becomes a rough tramping track over roots and rock. Bridges, waterfalls and stream crossings break up the climb before the final approach to the platform. The varied route is part of the appeal, but the surface and exposure call for steady footing throughout.

The approach passes Hende's Gallery, a roughly 60 m walkway cantilevered and suspended along a sheer rock wall. Local engineer Peter Hende built it in 1907 so visitors could cross difficult ground and view the glacier at close range. It is now recognized as a Category 1 historic place. A lower gallery section was swept away by a glacier advance soon after it was built; the ice has since retreated hundreds of metres into the valley.

At the lookout, take in the glacier, the rock walls on either side, and waterfalls dropping off the slopes. Cloud can hide much of the ice, so the view changes with the weather. For a photo, keep the steep valley walls in frame around the glacier; a tight crop of ice loses the scale of the place. The route is a lookout experience only, with no way to walk from here onto the glacier.

Start at the Franz Josef Glacier car park, about 4 km from the township by Glacier Access Road. Carry food and drinking water for the hike. Hende's Hut offers a sheltered lunch stop, but it is not overnight accommodation.