The Fox Glacier

Fox Glacier is located on the Southern Island of New Zealand in the Southern Alps in Westland National Park. The glacier is located 2-1/2 hours drive south of Greymouth, and 6 hours drive west of Christchurch. Named in 1872 after the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Sir William Fox, the glacier is a major tourist attraction. If you're heading to New Zealand, don't miss it. Fox Glacier has some very interesting features.

For instance, Fox Glacier is actually advancing, unlike most glaciers today. At a phenomenal rate of a meter per day, Fox Glacier has been advancing since 1985. Experts think that the reason for the glacier's advancement lies in a unique combination of climate and shape. The valley containing the glacier is funnel-shaped, and it is fed by a large ice field at the head of the glacier. With an increasing snow fall each year on the ice field makes the glacier advance. If the ice melted faster than snow accumulated, the glacier would retreat. A meter per day is racing speed for a glacier. Fox Glacier is moving approximately ten times as fast as any other advancing glacier around the world.

Fox Glacier is currently 13 km long. This is the longest of the West Coast New Zealand glaciers. Interestingly, the glacier ends in a temperate rainforest, approximately 250 feet above sea level. The Fox and the other glaciers of New Zealand's West Coast are very accessible to tourists.

While visiting this glacier, you have several choices of how you will best experience it. Private guides can be hired for several hikes on the actual glacier. Those who prefer a short distance can choose a half day hike, or just hike around the terminus of the glacier. You get up close and personal with this river of ancient ice.

If you prefer a bit longer hike, you can go further up the glacier, or choose a combination helicopter flight and hike even further up the icy stream. Explore an area full of beautiful blue ice caves, tunnels and arches. If you like to climb, an ice climbing adventure awaits you as your guide takes you climbing sheer ice walls that are a part of Fox Glacier. Further adventures await those who wish to stay overnight… a helicopter can fly you to Chancellor Dome, where you can stay overnight and enjoy dinner in historic Chancellor Hut. Enjoy the sunset over the Tasman Sea, and in the morning, explore a remote area of the Glacier that few average tourists see.

For experienced mountaineers, alpine adventures await that offer you a unique opportunity to explore the peaks and ice fields around the glacier. These guided tours of the glacier have been offered in one form or another since 1928, when they were offered by the Fox Hotel. Since then, the tours have been expanded and visitors are treated to a very uncrowded experience. Fox Glacier tours are handled by a single company, so there is a limit to how many people are touring at any given time.

Be sure to dress warmly, as the temperature is quite chilly around the glacier. And take lots of photos so you can remember your once in a lifetime experience at Fox Glacier.