New Zealand
Rob Roy Glacier
A hanging glacier calving ice into a valley of waterfalls reached by a half-day scramble.
Avalanches peel off the glacier face in real time, visible and audible from the viewing point below. Rob Roy Glacier in Mount Aspiring National Park hangs over a cliff like a frozen waterfall, calving ice chunks that thunder into waterfalls echoing off the valley walls.
The track crosses the Matukituki River on a swing bridge before climbing through ancient beech forest to the viewing point. The return walk takes three to four hours from the car park at Raspberry Creek. The glacier sits in a cirque — a natural amphitheatre carved by ice — with waterfalls descending from the glacier's edge on all sides after rain. The valley is a working sheep station — you walk through paddocks and cross farm fences before entering Mount Aspiring National Park. Rob Roy Glacier is retreating, and the pace of change is visible year to year.
Solo
The walk through beech forest to the glacier viewpoint is a meditation broken only by birdsong and the distant crack of calving ice.
Friends
The swing bridge, the sheep paddocks, the forest climb, and the glacier reveal. The walk has enough varied terrain to sustain conversation and enough drama at the end to silence it.
- A hanging glacier draped over a cliff face calves ice chunks into waterfalls that echo off the valley walls.
- The track crosses the Matukituki River on a swing bridge before climbing through ancient beech forest.
- Avalanches are visible and audible from the viewpoint — white cascades peeling off the glacier face in real time.
- The valley is a working sheep station — you walk through paddocks before entering the Mount Aspiring National Park.
Pack trail mix and a thermos — the trailhead at Raspberry Creek has nothing but a car park.
Return to Wanaka for a Fergburger-rivalling burger at Red Star.
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