Driving SH6 from Fox Glacier to Franz Josef | West Coast | New Zealand | 4K

Categories: West Coast Region

Tags: driving, fox glacier, franz josef, new zealand, west coast

Added: 2 years ago

Driving SH6 from Fox Glacier to Franz Josef along the Fox Glacier Highway on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.

Fox Glacier is a large glacier located in the Westland National Park and is a popular tourist destination. Fox Glacier is fed by four alpine glaciers and falls 2,600 metres. There are plenty of options for activities close to the village including a number of ways to experience the glacier, quiet walks and beach combing, or serious adrenaline pumping adventures. Fox Glacier terminal face is just five kilometres from the village. At night you can walk along a bush path to a fern grotto to see glow worms on show. Near Fox Glacier is beautiful Lake Matheson, famous for its mirror-like reflections of Aoraki / Mount Cook and Mount Tasman/ Rarakiroa, on a clear day. A delightful bush track walk follows the lake edge.

Franz Josef Glacier is a dramatic large glacier also located within the Westland National Park, and forms part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Site. The Franz Josef Glacier area has some of the most spectacular scenery in New Zealand located just six kilometres from the centre of the Franz Josef village. See awe-inspiring remnants of the ice age cascade from snowfields to rain forest valley floors. Hop in a helicopter and have the glacial experience of a lifetime landing on the top of the glacier and exploring the crevasses and wonders of this remarkable glacier tumbling down from the tops of the white, lofty Southern Alps (the tallest in New Zealand) into the rain forest covered valley closer to sea level, at the astonishing rate of about 70cm per day – about 10 times faster than normal glaciers. This provides a very rare opportunity to experience a dynamic glacier in a temperate environment, within easy driving and walking distance from the main highway. Franz Josef village is in a high rainfall zone with mild temperatures.