Rob Roy Glacier
A hanging glacier above a valley, with ice blocks calving off through the day.
Duration
4 hrs – 6 hrs
Difficulty
●●●○○
Best time
November to April
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
The Rob Roy is a hanging glacier: it does not reach the valley floor but stops on a wall, from which blocks of ice break off regularly and fall in a cascade. You hear them before you see them.
The hike is ten kilometres return from the Matukituki valley, with a swing bridge at the start, then a steady climb through beech forest. It is reckoned to offer the best return on effort of any walk in the region.
Getting there
Fifty kilometres from Wanaka on Mount Aspiring Road, twenty of them unsealed with several fords to cross.
What to bring
- Walking shoes
- Sportswear
- International driving permit
Rules on site
The access road has fords that become impassable after rain, and hire car contracts often forbid that kind of road: check yours. Serac falls are unpredictable — stay on the path, well back from the wall.
