Aoraki/Mt Cook - Scenic Highlights

Aoraki/Mt Cook | Regional Information | Activity Highlights | Scenic Highlights | History

Aoraki/Mt Cook features high mountains with large scree slopes are a major landscape feature, along with wide braided rivers, steep gorges and native forest.

Featured Tourism Operators in Aoraki/Mt Cook

Aoraki/Mt Cook Scenic Highlights Overview

For an amazing scenic experience don't look past Aoraki/Mt Cook. The boundaries of Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park encircle New Zealand's highest mountains and largest glaciers. Not far from the national park is Lake Tekapo, a remarkable turquoise coloured lake framed by the majesty of the Southern Alps.

A Fantasy Land of Ice and Rock - Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park

Glaciers cover 40 percent of the breathtaking Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park. With 19 peaks over 3,000 metres high, the Park is home to New Zealand's highest mountain, Aoraki/Mount Cook. The park is also part of Te Wahipounamu—South Westland World Heritage Area—in recognition of its outstanding natural value.

From Twizel a sealed road leads right into the Park. Mount Cook Village lies at the end of the road, just below the terminals of the Hooker and Mueller Glaciers.

Accommodation at Mount Cook Village ranges from backpackers lodges through to luxury accommodation. There are 17 huts in the park. Most are located for mountaineering use and visitors need climbing skills to reach them.

Seek the Perfect Peace and Tranquility of Lake Tekapo

Lake Tekapo is about two and a half to three hours drive south-west of Christchurch. The township faces north across the remarkable turquoise coloured lake to the mountainous drama of the Southern Alps.

Photographer: Ron Laughlin. Lake Tekapo, Aoraki/Mt Cook and Canterbury, New Zealand

Lake Tekapo, Aoraki/Mt Cook
Photographer: Ron Laughlin

Lake Tekapo is given its intense milky-turquoise hue by fine rock-flour, dust ground by glacial movement and held in suspension by the lake's waters. In this majestic and peaceful setting, relaxation and leisurely strolls might be your highest priority. An obvious short walk is to the famous Church of the Good Shepherd, where the altar window frames a perfect view of the Alps.

Close by is the 'sheepdog monument'—a bronze statue sculpted to recognise the district's debt to the sheepdog 'without the help of which the grazing of the mountainous country would be impossible'.

In season Lake Tekapo, and more particularly its smaller neighbours, Lakes Alexandrina, McGregor and Conway, provide good fishing for brown and rainbow trout. In winter the township is host to the visitors who come to enjoy Tekapo's nearby skifield.

Inland Scenic Route 72

The Inland Scenic Route 72 is perfect for the traveller who likes to get off the main highways. Take an alternative route from Christchurch to Methven and Queenstown. You can pick up a guide for the Inland Scenic route at a Visitor Information Centre.