21 March 2025
The Hooker Valley Track, a 10km return hike in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, was top in my “must-do” list for this road trip in NZ’s South Island.
The hike on a mostly flat track through Hooker Valley to Hooker Lake provides incredible views of the Southern Alps, glacial streams and the majestic Aoraki (Mount Cook). Aoraki/ Mount Cook (3,724 metres) is the highest mountain in New Zealand.
After a long drive from Queenstown to Mount Cook Village, we checked into the Hermitage Hotel and proceeded to do the hike before sunset. I wanted to do this hike during the golden hour just before sunset as the light during this time is best for photography.
The start of the trail is at White Horse Hill campground/carpark located at the end of Hooker Valley Rd off State Highway 80). We could see the White Horse Hill campground/carpark from the balcony of our hotel room. It is actually only a few minutes drive to get there from the hotel.
The trail will cross three scenic suspension bridges with views of Mueller Lake, Mount Sefton and Mount Cook visible on most parts of the hike. The track ends at Hooker Lake, with views of Mount Cook on clear days. This is an out-and-back trail, meaning we will hike the same path to return to the trailhead. The hike would take approximately 3 to 4 hours to complete.
Starting The Hike
We arrived at White Horse Hill car park at 5.20 PM and managed to find parking space since most day-trippers had already left. The trailhead was easy to find. We just followed the signs past the parking area.
The weather was actually very good with clear blue sky on this autumn day. However, I found it warmer than expected.
The first part of the trail was relatively uninteresting, other then the Alpine Memorial dedicated to the alpinists who lost their lives.
Mueller Lake Lookout and the First Suspension Bridge
After about 1 km of brisk walking under the hot sun, we came to Mueller Lake Lookout located just before the first suspension bridge. This location provides an excellent vantage point overlooking Mueller Lake and the first suspension bridge. To my disappointment, the sun was behind Mount Sefton and the light was a little too harsh for good photography. Nevertheless, the views were gorgeous.
We made our way down to the suspension bridge. From there on, the hike and views just got better and better.
Walking towards the first suspension bridge that spans across Hooker River. The bridge can take a load of up to 20 people. At this time of day, there was not many hikers and we had the bridge to ourselves. This made it easier for us to snap photos from the middle of the bridge without it bouncing about.
Our shadows cast on gray waters of the Hooker River. After crossing the first bridge, the path followed the shore of the Mueller Lake to the second bridge. We had constant view of Mount Sefton, Mueller Lake and the moraine on the opposite shore.
With the sun behind the mountain, the valley became cooler and more comfortable for hiking. After another 1.3 km, we arrived at the second suspension bridge.
Second Suspension Bridge
This section of the river is more turbulent, with impressive rapids and large boulders.
Shortly after crossing the second bridge, the path turns away from the Mueller Lake and continues north towards the third and final swing bridge.
View of Mount Cook
That was when we had the first view of Mount Cook along the trail.
We followed the path that runs along the Hooker River.
I stopped to take some long exposure photos of the glacial waters gushing over the large boulders while my wife and son went ahead without me.
We met up again a few hundred metres further down the trail to get this epic view of Mount Cook, painted gold by the warm rays of the setting sun, and Hooker River in the foreground.
Instead of continuing on to the Third Suspension Bridge and Hooker Lake, we decided to turn back as planned. This was because my son had arranged to meet up with some friends from Singapore who are working and staying in the Aoraki Court Hotel after dinner.
Note: We had plan to do the same hike, all the way to Hooker Lake the next morning!
We went back to Mueller Lake Lookout Point again for photos. The lighting (after the sun had set behind Mount Sefton) was much better compared to earlier.
The walk back was quiet and peaceful and we had the whole trail almost to ourselves.
We returned to White Horse Hill Campground at 7.45 PM. Most of the cars and day-trippers were gone. What was left were campervans.
White Horse Hill Campground almost full of campervans. Dinner at the Chamois Bar & Grill
There are not many dining options at Mount Cook Village. Since we could not make it in time to enjoy the expensive and lavish buffet dinner at the Hermitage Hotel, we went to Chamois Bar & Grill instead. This is the only pub/bar that is opened till late and is conveniently located at the Mt Cook Lodge. It is owned and operated by Hermitage.
Chamois Bar & Grill has plenty of seats so even though this place was busy with many people, we managed to get a table. The place serves pub style meals with no table service. We ordered and collected own food from the serving point.
Whilst the food was slightly pricey (as expected due to remote location and almost a monopoly status), it was quite good and generous. We ordered a large lamb pizza and fish and chips to share.
Overall, the dinner at Chamois Bar & Grill was satisfying. After dinner, my wife and I dropped my son off at the Aoraki Court Motel to meet his friends for drinks before driving back to Hermitage Hotel in total darkness. Being a part of the International Dark Sky Reserve, there are no street lamps in Mount Cook Village.
Stargazing in Mount Cook National Park
Mount Cook Village is known for its stunning night sky. Later in the night, my son’s friends offered to drive all of us to a dark, dark place for stargazing.
They picked us from Hermitage Hotel and drove to a secluded place, away from the light pollution from the buildings in Mount Cook Village. We brought along our red headlamps and tripods for astrophotography.
As we alighted from the car, parked by the side of a pitch dark road, we saw a flash of blue, green light from a shooting star. It was a split second of intense bright light, followed by darkness. This bright streak of light was caused by a meteoroid burning up as it enters Earth's atmosphere. This was a rare experience for me as most of time we would miss seeing meteors in the bright lights from the city.
The night sky at Mount Cook’s dark sky reserve on this clear, moonless night was stunningly breathtaking. This was better than the night sky we saw at Te Anau.
The following photos did not do justice to what we experienced. We saw millions of stars and even the Milky Way galaxy.
News update:
The second suspension bridge on the Hooker Valley Track is permanently closed due to riverbank erosion and safety concerns. A new suspension bridge is being built, with an expected opening in Autumn 2026. The track remains open to the first swing bridge.
More information can be found at the Department of Conservation website.
No comments:
Post a Comment