Glacier Valley Eco Tours · Franz Josef (walk at Fox Glacier)
An afternoon guided walk on the south side of the Fox valley, through rainforest and across the riverbed to viewpoints of Te Moeka o Tuawe and Mount Tasman. You look up at the glacier from a distance; the operator says the tour does not get close to the terminal face.
The old Fox Glacier access road is gone: a landslide blocked it in February 2019, and DOC decided it will not reopen. In its place, the Fox Glacier South Side Walk starts at a car park 2 km south of the township, over the Fox River bridge, and climbs about 100 m through rainforest to two viewpoints. This tour walks it with a guide. Check in at 1:15pm at the Franz Josef office for a 1:30pm departure and the 30-minute drive south, or join at the DOC building car park in Fox Glacier at 2pm.
Be clear about the view. The operator states it outright: "This tour does not get close to or view the terminal face of the glacier". You see the upper glacier, the Fox Névé and Mount Tasman from a viewpoint about 2.6 km from the ice, per the October 2026 Glacier Country access update. One guest's advice: "Just know that you can't get near the glacier." Most of the route is public track. The extras are side trails, the riverbed, a hot drink and biscuits at a viewpoint, and a guide who knows the plants, the rocks and the 2019 landslide.
The South Side Walk is free, and with a car you can do it yourself in about 2 hours return (6.4 km, says newzealand.com). Book the tour if you have no car, want the story, or are based in Franz Josef. The price is NZ$115 per adult direct on its tour page. You're back in Fox by about 5pm and Franz Josef by about 5:30pm. For time on the ice itself, the Fox Glacier heli hike is the only option.
Glacier Valley Eco Tours in The Helicopter Line building, Franz Josef. Borrow boots, a raincoat or an umbrella.
South on SH6. Guests staying in Fox join at the DOC building car park at 2pm.
Rainforest track and tree ferns, then the viewpoints over the valley. Guides add short side trails and the riverbed when it's safe.
Hot drinks and biscuits facing the glacier, weather permitting.
Drop-off in Fox at about 5pm and Franz Josef at about 5:30pm.
★★★★★Due to the glacier receding over the past 15-years and the old access road being destroyed in a 2019 storm, you can't get as close to the glacier as was once possible without flying to it. [...] Cliff brought our small group on some smaller trails, and at times on no trails at all, to some amazing view points.
★★★★★Our guide was a botanist grad student who told us about the glacier, the 2019 landslide, rocks, plants and even some bugs. [...] Because we were a small group we were able to do some exploring on the rocks in the landslide area.
★★★★★Started out on a fairy-tale pretty short trail to a glacier viewing point, then literally continues over the river and through the woods to another amazing viewpoint, where our guide Cliff made tea and coffee and told us more about the glacier [...]
★★★★★Tea and cookies was also provided and having them in front of Fox Glacier in the middle of nature was next level!
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Yes, from a distance. The South Side Walk reaches viewpoints of the upper glacier and Mount Tasman, about 2.6 km from the ice. The old road to the terminal face closed for good after the 2019 landslide.
No. The operator says the tour does not get close to or view the terminal face. A heli hike is the only way onto the ice.
About 2 hours of walking inside a 3.5 to 4 hour trip, with about 100 m of climbing. Guests call it easy to moderate; one put it at 7 km, not steep, with short stream crossings.
At 20 Main Road in Franz Josef (check in 1:15pm, depart 1:30pm). If you're staying in Fox, join at the DOC building car park at 2pm.
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Rainforest trails to the Fox Glacier viewpoints with a local guide, starting from Franz Josef.
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