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Explore deep green moss-covered rainforests in the Westland National Park and experience the power of the Fox Glacier up close before heading sourth through the tall kahikatea forests surrounding the shores of a string of enchanting glacial lakes on the road to Haast.
Lake Matheson
1Lake matheson
From the Fox Glacier Township on SH6 head west 4 km on Cook Flat Road, turn right onto Lake Matheson Road and drive 1 km north to the start of the track.
It takes only 15 minutes
to walk from the car park
to edge of the forest fringed shores of Lake
Matheson, but if you have
the time you can spend an
hour and follow the track
right around the lake. In the early hours of the
morning you can see picture-postcard reflections of the
Southern Alps in the dark,
mirror-like waters.
MINEHAHA TRACK
Return to SH6 and head south 0.3 km to the Minehaha Track on the left.
One of the most beautiful forest walks in the
park lies only a few minutes off SH6. It is an enchanted walk
through a lush green rain forest that
winds its way through tall kamahi
trees, their branches draped with
hanging mosses. The Minnehaha
stream appears briefly alongside the
track and then slips away guietly into
the trees. The larvae of caddisflies,
stoneflies and mayflies shelter
beneath small stones in the stream's
pools, hiding from the native trout or
kokopu. Dark green Prince of Wales' Feather
ferns and Hen and Chicken ferns
cover the forest floor on the last part of
the walk, before you break out of this
soft green dreamworld back into
daylight on the road. At night glowworms light up the rain forest.
Fox Glacier is a vast river of ice
2FOX GLACIER
Continue south on SH6 1.2 km, turn left onto Fox Glacier Access Road and drive east about 4 km to the start of the Glacier walk.
From the end of the road it is an easy 30-minute walk to the impressive terminal face
of the Fox Glacier where the river surges from
a huge cavern under the ice and enormous
blocks of ice tumble into the water. To the
south lies Cone Rock, a 277 m sheer rock face
which rises dramatically from the valley floor. Westlands two largest glaciers, the Franz Josef and Fox, descend from high in the alps through valleys enshrouded in rainforest. The Fox Glacier has a high altitude snowfield that covers 32 sq km, funneling vast amounts of ice into the narrow valley below. The ice slides down a steep valley under its own weight towards the coast, moving up to several metres per before it eventually melts at the end of the glacier near sea level, where there is warmer air and more frequent heavy rain.
GUIDED GLACIER WALKS
You can arrange to join one of a number of guided walks onto
the Fox Glacier from the Fox Glacier Township. Walkers are equipped with boots and ice axes before they are taken up the valley and onto the ice, where crampons are fitted to the boots, allowing you to follow the ice steps cut by the guides who will lead you out amongst the ice ridges and crevasses onto the glacier. There are also longer full day treks exploring the ice pinnacles and seracs higher on the glacier as well as helicopter trips up to the Chancellor Dome hut, from where you can climb to spectacular viewpoints looking across the alps and the coast.
MORAINE WALK
Return to SH6 and continue south 0.3 km across the Fox River Bridge, turn left onto Glacier View Road and drive east 1.5 km to the start of the Moraine Walk.
The short 30-minute Moraine Walk leads from the right-hand side of the road into a dark
moody forest, covering ancient rock moraines
deposited by the Fox Glacier at the end of
the ice ages. The boulders that cover this part
of the valley are over 200 million years old
and many of the giant rata and rimu trees on
the older parts of the moraine have been
growing for more than 1000 years. With its
moss and fern covered floor and subdued
light filtered by the canopy, this ancient
rainforest has a haunting character. The loop
track rejoins the road 5 minutes' walk from
its starting point.
KARANGARUA BRIDGE
In the 1920s most of the rivers south of Franz Josef had still not been bridged, making travel in South Westland slow and often difficult. A series of single-lane suspension bridges were built over the next two decades, most of them similar in design to the bridge across the Karangarua River that was built in 1939. With a span of 130 m, it is the longest single-suspension span still in use in New Zealand.
3COPLAND PASS TRACK
Continue south 24 km on the Haast Highway and SH6 to the start of the Copeland Track on the left.
Soon after crossing the Karangarua River you come to the starting point for the Copland Pass Track. Cattle can be seen grazing on the river flats near the road, but the most scenic country lies further inland along the track which follows the valley to Welcome Flat about five to six hours away. Bridges cross the larger rivers and natural hot pools lie waiting for trampers heading up to the hut. This is a popular day or overnight return trip. Further on the terrain gets steeper, especially towards the pass which is usually covered in snow and ice. The crossing is usually made from the Hooker Valley on the Mt Cook side of the alps and is suitable only for experienced mountaineers.
Bruce Bay
4Bruce Bay
Continue southwest 19 km on the Haast Highway and SH6 to Bruce Bay..
After driving through an impressive avenue of rimu and kahikatea the road emerges on the coast at the windswept shoreline of Bruce Bay. Today you will find piles of driftwood stacked up along this beautiful stretch of coastline where there was once a small settlement. The town had sprung up almost overnight after Albert Hunt arrived in Hokitika in 1866 with a hundredweight of gold, and was granted a claim south of Bruce Bay. He had started a greenstone rush two years earlier, but this time he was taken at gunpoint by about 2000 men who had gathered at Bruce Bay, and forced to lead them to the new goldfield. Hunt escaped, so the men looted and tore down the makeshift buildings which hopeful traders had built along the shore.
Lake Paringa
5LAKE PARINGA
Continue southwest 24.2 km on the Haaast Highway and SH6 to Lake Paringa.
Popular for trout fishing, this tranquil lake
set right beside the road is surrounded by forest
on the old main route between Otago and
the West Coast, once a well-used cattle track built in the 1870s so that farmers could drive their stock to the saleyards further north at Whataroa. Until the middle of the 20th century these tracks through the forest were the only routes connecting this remote part of the west coast with Hokitika in the north and Wanaka in the east on the other side of the Southern Alps. Paringa was the end of the road until the late 1950s when construction began on the Paringa–Haast section of State Highway 6, which was finally completed in 1965, providing an all-weather road that linked the Haast area with the rest of the West Coast. A short 15 minute walk along the Jamie Creek Walkway leads through a forest of kahikatea, rimu and the last silver beech trees you will see on this part of the coast until you get further north, past the Taramakau River on the road to Arthurs Pass. Lake Paringa is home to the crested grebe which raises its young in floating nests on the lake. Low flying scaup can also be seen over the lake, often diving up to 3 m deep into the water to feed on aquatic plants, freshwater snails and other invertebrates. The Australasian Shoveler (kuruwhengu) is the fastest flying waterbird in New Zealand, feeding on freshwater fish, insects and the seeds of plants along the lake shores, while other water birds that can be seen include grey and mallard ducks, black swans and black shags.
6LAKE MOERAKI
Continue south 18.8 km on the Haast Highway and SH6 to Lake Moeraki. The start of the track to Monro Beach is on the right.
This peaceful forest fringed lake is not far from the
sea. While it takes 40 minutes to walk to the
coastline at Monro Beach, home to seals and
a breeding colony of Fiordland crested penguins, there are also several shorter walks from
the lake. Both Lake Paringa and Lake Moeraki are glacial lakes that formed behind walls of rock deposited by glaciers during the ice ages. Lake Moeraki is a popular place for trout and salmon fishing as well as birdwatching. The rare kotuku, (the white heron), can sometimes be seen along these southern coasts along with crested grebes (puteketeke) and the spotless crake. In the forests the fern bird, kaka, yellow crowned parakeet (kakariki) and the bush falcon (karearea) can be seen. In the evenings at dusk and early mornings at dawn you can often see small native bats, which nest in the hollow trunks of trees, flying around in the forest on the edge of the lake.
Knights Point where the rainforest meets the sea south of Lake Moeraki
7knights point
Continue south 5.6 km on the Haast Highway and SH6 to the viewpoint at Knights Point.
From the viewpoint at Knights Point, 137 m above the sea, there are magnificent views along this beautiful stretch of coastline with its pristine beaches, wave sculpted rock formations and rainforest stretching right to the shoreline. The rich red flowers of the rata can be seen in these forests during the summer months and seals often frequent the numerous sandy bays. It was here at Knights Point that the crews building the road from the north and the south met and it was here that the road was opened by the Prime Minister, Keith Holyoake, in 1965.
8Ship Creek
Continue south 9.5 km on the Haast Highway and SH6 to Ship Creek.
The Tauperikaka River took the name Ship Creek, after wreckage from the clipper Schomberg was washed up here on the beach. The largest wooden ship ever launched from a British shipyard, the 2600 ton Schomberg was wrecked off Cape Otway, Victoria while on her maiden voyage in 1854. A few small pieces salvaged from the wreck can be seen in The West Coast Historical Museum in Hokitika. There are two interesting short walks in the area. A 30 minute trail leads through stunted coastal forest and sand dunes to a small dune lake on the coast, while on the other side of the main road you can follow a 20 minute loop track through a kahikatea swamp forest. The boardwalk takes you deep into the swamp among impressive specimens of New Zealand’s tallest tree.
9HAAST
Continue southwest 15.1 km on the Haast Highway and SH6 to Haast.
The 723 m long bridge over the Haast River is the longest single lane bridge in the country. From here it is not far to Haast which is the last place to get petrol before you cross the Haast Pass to Makarora. You can also take a look at the displays in the Haast Visitor Centre and if you have time you can take a River Safari jetboat trip up the Haast River.