Mt Cook Stargazing Experience ↗Tasman Glacier car park in the Tasman Valley; the guide checks you in with a red or white torch, and a shuttle takes you to the provider's viewing site.
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Hut tickets, weather, avalanche conditions; free entry.
Visiting Aoraki/Mount Cook: ice, rock and a village in the park
A village in the park
At the end of State Highway 80 there is a small alpine village with a visitor centre, a petrol station, a day shelter with toilets and coin-operated showers, and a few cafés and restaurants.
NZ$2.50 per half hour, NZ$25 a day; free for up to 20 minutes. Pay on arrival at the machine, card only. If you stay overnight you pay for two days (NZ$50).
Standard campsite at the end of Hooker Valley Road, 2.5 km (1.6 mi) from the village, with drinking water, a cooking shelter and toilets, no power or showers. Check-in 14:00 to 20:00.
Hikes & routes: Hooker Valley, Sealy Tarns, Mueller Hut and Tasman Valley
Hooker Valley Track
From White Horse Hill over three suspension bridges to Hooker Lake at the foot of Aoraki: 5 km (3.1 mi) each way, 80 m (262 ft) of climb. The brochure gives 3 hours return, the park page 3 to 4 hours.
28 bunks, booking required from 2 November to 2 May.
The red hut on the ridge above the Hooker Valley – reached by an alpine route with about 1,000 m (3,281 ft) of climb.
Bunks
28
Ascent
about 4 hrs
Booking
2 Nov–2 May
Adults from
NZ$50
Aoraki/Mount Cook fees: parking, hut, campsite
Mueller Hut: NZ$50 to NZ$62
Adults pay NZ$50 a night from 1 May to 30 September, NZ$55 (weekends NZ$57) from 1 October to 30 April, and NZ$60 (weekends NZ$62) from 1 December to 29 February. Children aged 5 to 17 pay half.
Hikes & routes: Hooker Valley, Sealy Tarns, Mueller Hut and Tasman Valley
Mueller Hut Route
Beyond Sealy Tarns there is no maintained track, only an alpine route over scree and, in winter, snow. Then you need an ice axe, crampons and avalanche gear.
From 2 November 2026 to 2 May 2027 only with a DOC booking; no spaces are kept for walk-ins. From 1 May to 1 November the visitor centre allocates spaces on the day of your hike.
Viewpoint · Viewing platform on the Mueller moraine
Kea Point
View of Mount Sefton and the Hooker Valley.
Hikes & routes: Hooker Valley, Sealy Tarns, Mueller Hut and Tasman Valley
Kea Point
From White Horse Hill about an hour return to the viewing platform on the Mueller moraine, 180 m (591 ft) of climb over 3 km (1.9 mi) from the village.
Water · Glacier lake in front of the Tasman Glacier
Tasman Lake
According to DOC the lake has only existed since 1974.
New Zealand's longest glacier ends in a lake that did not exist before 1974.
Glacier
about 23 km
Lake since
1974
Viewpoint
15-min climb
Parking
free
Hikes & routes: Hooker Valley, Sealy Tarns, Mueller Hut and Tasman Valley
Tasman Glacier View
More than 300 steps in 15 minutes up a moraine with a view of Tasman Lake and the Tasman Glacier. The lake has only existed since 1974; it is growing because the glacier is melting.
According to the park page, New Zealand's longest glacier is 23 km (14 mi) long, up to 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and 101 km² (39 sq mi) in area; the brochure gives about 22 km (14 mi) and over 100 km².
Mountains & rock · Highest mountain in New Zealand
Aoraki/Mount Cook
3,724 m (12,218 ft); for Ngāi Tahu the most sacred of ancestors.
Visiting Aoraki/Mount Cook: ice, rock and a village in the park
Highest mountain in New Zealand
According to DOC, Aoraki/Mount Cook is 3,724 m (12,218 ft) high. For Ngāi Tahu, Aoraki is the most sacred of ancestors; the mountain has Tōpuni status.
