A Guide to Mt. Cook National Park [for First Time Visitors]

2/28/2023

Mt. Cook National Park, also known as Aoraki Mount Cook, was established in 1953. Located about 3 hours outside of Queenstown on the South Island of New Zealand, or about 2.5 hours from Christchurch, this national park is also home to New Zealand's tallest mountain - Aoraki/Mount Cook - at 12,316 feet! With stunning glaciers and gatorade blue lakes, Mt. Cook National Park should be on everyone's list if they're visiting New Zealand. Although we took a day trip to the park from Queenstown, there's also a small village center where you can stay to extend your trip and to grab some bites to eat!

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If You're Visiting for the First Time

The drive to Mt. Cook National Park is half of the adventure itself. With incredible views of gatorade blue rivers and lakes, stunning mountain tops and beautiful glaciers - this is the main reason we recommend that you drive - so you can stop to get out and explore wherever you want! If you decide to drive, you can check out our guide here that highlights the best places to stop along the way!

Whether you decide to drive or not, you'll want to make the best out of your trip to Mt. Cook National Park. After our first visit, we gathered a short list of things we wish we would have known before our visit - we hope they make your experience easier and more memorable!

Time - if you're doing a day trip, plan to leave early, with so many places to stop along the way and so much to explore in the park, you'll want as much time as you can get
Bring Food & Drinks - there are plenty of incredible viewpoints to have a picnic, and finding places to eat depending on the season can be a little difficult, we recommend at least bringing a couple of snacks!
Bring Outdoor Gear - sunscreen, bug spray, the usual.
Wear Comfortable Clothes - if you're planning to do any outdoor activities or go hiking, make sure to have comfortable shoes and a raincoat incase the weather changes!

Hikes and Best Things to Do

Mt. Cook National Park is one of the most beautiful National Parks we've ever been to. If this is your first time, we hope you spend some time getting outdoors and taking in the incredible views! Because we were only visiting for the day, we only had time for one hike, the Blue Lakes Hike that eventually leads to the Tasman Glacier Overlook, which we would 100% recommend! (Especially if you've never seen a glacier before!) If you do have time for some other hikes or are looking for something longer, here's a quick rundown of some hikes in the park :

Blue Lakes Hike - although the lakes are more of a cloudy green color, and the loop path itself is now quite overgrown, the overlook of the 3 blue lakes is beautiful! when we were there many people also went swimming in these lakes (2.4 km loop with about 300 steps)
Tasman Glacier Overlook Hike - if you end up visiting the blue lakes overlook, then we highly encourage you to go a bit further to the Tasman Glacier Overlook for incredible views! (1.3 km loop with an extra 300 steps after the blue lakes hike)
Tasman Lake & Riverwalk - follow the signs to Tasman River, which actually brings you to the point where the river and lake meet, and you'll be rewarded with some of the most beautiful views, especially at sunrise! (2.7 km loop)
Mueller Lake Lookout via Hooker Valley Track - a flat hike that brings you to an overlook of Mueller Lake and a swing bridge, not to be confused with the Mueller Hut trail (1.8 km fairly flat loop)
Hooker Lake via Hooker Valley Track - if you're looking for a longer hike during your visit, then try Hooker Lake! Continue on the Hooker Valley Trail and you'll see views of Hooker Lake, Mueller Glacier, and even Mt. Cook itself (10.8 km fairly flat trail that crosses 3 swing bridges)
Kea Point - this hike brings you to the foot of Mueller Glacier (2.9 km fairly flat loop)
Sealy Tarns Track (a.k.a. Stairway to Heaven) - a quad killer with about 2,200 steps you'll have to climb in order to reach the Sealy Tarns Lakes (5.1 km HARD loop)

Although we highly encourage you to get out and enjoy the views when visiting a National Park, some of you might be looking for some other things to do that don't require much hiking. Don't worry! There are plenty of other things to do that don't require much movement and still let you enjoy the views - here are some things we've put on our list for next time :

Glacier Boat Tour - Glacier Explorers takes you where no hike can, out into the middle of the lake! (this could be the best way to get as close as you can to Tasman Glacier, and you could even have the chance to touch glacier ice as you make your way through the lake!)
Explore Aoraki/Mt. Cook Village - with only 250 permanent residents, there are a number of things to do here, including visiting the park's Visitor Center, short nature walks like the Governors Bush Walk, the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Center, and a few places to eat!
Scenic Flight Tour - whether via a small plane or helicopter, enjoy the incredible views of the park and surrounding area from above (our best recommendations are to book through Air Safaris or The Helicopter Line
Skiing, Kayaking, Stargazing, Birding...really, the list goes on ;)
Relax at the Hotel - if you decide to extend your stay, or take it easy and explore the park for a couple of days, then Aoraki Alpine Lodge, Mt. Cook Lodge, and the Hermitage Hotel all looked like they had great views!

Have any questions? Feel free to leave them in the comments! :)

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