Free and self-guided Franz Josef Glacier walks, and what a guide adds

The valley tracks are public land and cost nothing. Both Franz Josef and Fox have marked routes from the car parks through the rainforest and along the riverbed, ending at viewpoints that look up at the ice. They are open to anyone, they need no guide and no permit, and on a settled morning they are one of the best free walks in New Zealand.

They end where the public access ends. The tracks take you to the lookout; the lower terraces beyond are closed and the ice itself is reached by helicopter. Nobody sells you a way around that, and any page promising a free walk onto the glacier is describing a valley that no longer exists.

Lake Matheson is the other free classic. The loop track through ancient forest to the reflection viewpoints is public, and on a still morning it gives you Aoraki and Mount Tasman doubled in the water. The guided version at $69 adds transfers and a guide who knows which of the two viewpoints is working on the day.

Transport. The guided walks collect you in the township. The Fox trip at $63 drives you the thirty minutes each way, which matters a great deal if you arrived by bus, and the Franz Josef walk at $63 moves you to the valley and back.

A small group. One guide to ten guests, stated in the listing. On a track that also carries independent walkers, a group of ten moves at a conversational pace and stops where there is something to see rather than where there is somewhere to park.

The explanation. Glaciation, the geology of the valley, the podocarp forest, the birds, the chamois and tahr on the slopes above. The tracks are signposted; a guide is the difference between reading three panels and understanding what you are standing in.

Comfort. A break with tea, coffee, hot chocolate and a cookie is written into both of the valley walks. On a coast where a clear morning can turn to rain by eleven, a hot drink halfway round is not a small thing.

Places the public tracks do not reach. The cruise-and-walk at $85 and the kayak-and-walk at $102 both land you on a private rainforest trail inside the Okarito Kiwi Sanctuary. That access is part of the booking; there is no free version of it.

Stay on the marked route. The valley floor is braided river gravel and the marked line moves through the season. The signs and markers are the current route, not a suggestion, and they are updated by the people who check the valley every day.

Check the track status before you drive out. Sections of both valleys open and close with the weather and the river, and a closure is usually posted at the car park and at the visitor centre in the township. A five-minute check saves a wasted hour.

Dress for rain. This is one of the wettest coasts in the country and the forest holds the water long after the sky clears. Boots you do not mind wetting, a real rain layer, and something warm for the wind coming off the ice.

Allow more time than the sign says. Track times assume steady walking without stopping. On a first visit nobody walks that valley without stopping, and the photographs take longer than the walking.

Free cancellation on every trip here. Each of the twelve listings on this site carries it, which changes how a booking works on a coast with fast-moving weather: you hold the morning slot you want, and you decide later whether the sky agrees. Holding a place costs you nothing until you keep it.

A place in a group of ten. The valley walks run to a one-to-ten guide ratio, and the lake trips run as small groups. In the high season the public track carries everyone who drove to the car park that morning; a booked walk carries ten people and stops where the guide chooses.

Your photographs taken for you. Both kayak trips — $85 on Lake Mapourika and $102 into the Okarito Kiwi Sanctuary — include photos of your tour. On the water, with a paddle in both hands, that is worth more than it sounds.

Operators who work this valley every day. Glacier Valley Eco Tours run both of the guided walks, Franz Josef Wilderness Tours run the lake trips, and Franz Josef Glacier Guides and Fox Glacier Guiding run the trips onto the ice. Between them the twelve listings carry 1,616 reviews, and the two valley walks alone account for 357 of them.