Lake Matheson Walk — Attraction in South Island

Having explored the trails around Franz Josef, and caught a distant view of the receding Franz Josef glacier, my wife and I drove to the less-commercial setting of Fox Glacier. This town is actually in a more picturesque location than Franz Josef, and we headed out 6km to Lake Matheson to do an early morning walk that promised a view of Mt Cook/Aoraki. This was an incredible understatement - many of the Southern Alps peaks were on display in snow-covered glory, to the naked eye as well as reflected in Lake Matheson's waters. The circuit walk is an easy 4.4km, and along the way you can ascend to a platform aptly named "The View of Views" to observe the various mountain ranges, or descend to "Reflection Island Lookout" to take those mirror photos. At the end, there's a cafe if you're so inclined.

When you're finished, head another 4km down the road to the Glacier Viewpoint, a dedicated viewing area in the form of a Maori canoe (Waka), where Fox Glacier is easily seen seated amongst the Southern Alps. It is well...

Summary 5/5: Perfect easy short walk for everyone. Must do.

It's hard not to love this walk, this easy relaxing walk has everything for everyone: from the beautiful nature and the stalling trees for the nature lovers, to the surreal reflections for photographers, easy running trails for those athletic, and even the majestic Mt. Cook & glacier landscape view if you are lucky..... Even if you are short on time, you can go for the out and back walk to the Jetty Viewpoint (about 30-45 minutes), otherwise, strongly recommend to do the loop track (About 1 hour+). The attractions include: Jetty Viewpoint - insta-famous attraction Reflection Island - less crowded but equally serene View of Views - million dollars view with some stairs to climb.

Facilities available at the trail head include Cafe, public toilet, tourist information center. Best to come early to...

If you’re very lucky and get a clear sunny day with no winds, Lake Matheson delivers stunning views of the mountains, reflected in its lake. Most people, however, will be lucky to even see the mountains as they’re hidden by clouds, and the reflections are almost like unicorns. Still, even without those views this is a good short walk through ferns and trees, some nice views, and much of it is flat, though, after the lookout, there are stairs so the wheelchair friendly bit expires here. There’s a slight diversion to a lookout, which only takes 2 minutes, but we found the best views were back down on the lake shore, below this, where there is a clear view back to the mountains. There’s a big free car park, it’s just 10 minutes off the highway, and the café here is superb – great coffee, excellent meals, and a really good gift shop, with high quality well priced...