Can You Walk on Fox Glacier?

Yes, but only on a guided heli-hike. The Department of Conservation (DOC) says helicopters are the only safe way to get people onto the glacier, and the walking tracks in the valley stop at a viewpoint 2.6 km from the ice. The trip that walks on Fox Glacier from the village is Fox Glacier Guiding’s Fox Glacier: Up to 3 Hours Hike with Helicopter Transfer, from US$479 a person (checked November 2026): a 5-minute flight onto the ice, up to 3 hours walking with a guide in crampons, and the flight back.

The calendar above is Fox Glacier Guiding’s heli-hike, with 372 reviews (checked November 2026).

Why you cannot walk to the ice

Until 2019 a DOC road ran up the north side of the Fox Glacier valley, with tracks and visitor facilities towards the glacier. A storm in March 2019 destroyed the road, the tracks and the facilities, and DOC closed it for the indefinite future: the Alpine Gardens landslide above it, which DOC calls New Zealand’s largest active landslide, has made the north side of the valley unsafe for walkers and vehicles. The glacier has also retreated up its valley. The walk that remains, DOC’s South Side Walk, ends at a viewpoint that DOC’s daily glacier access update of 3 November 2026 put 2,600 m from the terminal face.

DOC’s warning is blunt: people have died or been seriously injured after going over the barriers, and anyone who wants to get closer to the glacier, or onto it, should go with one of the guiding companies in Franz Josef or Fox Glacier. The valley floor below the ice is also a flood path: glacial rivers can be dammed by ice falls and burst, sending a surge of water and ice down the valley.

What a heli-hike is like

Fox Glacier Guiding’s trip starts at its base at 44 Main Road with a 30-minute safety briefing and the gear: leather boots and socks, crampons, walking poles, a waterproof jacket and overtrousers. A short bus ride and a 5-minute helicopter flight put the group of up to 11 on the ice in a part of the glacier no track reaches, where it describes ice caves and arches forming. The guide walks in front and cuts steps where the ice is steep; you follow in crampons for up to 3 hours, depending on the weather, then fly back. No climbing experience is needed.

Check dates for the heli-hike

Who can go

• Age: 9 and over; children aged 9 to 16 go with an adult.
• Weight: 116 kg or less per person, for the helicopter’s weight and balance.
• Fitness: a reasonable level of fitness and agility. The ice is uneven and the walking is reasonably challenging; it is not suitable for wheelchair users.
• Clothing: three or four warm layers for the upper body, quick-drying trousers rather than jeans, sunglasses and sunscreen. Fox Glacier Guiding supplies the boots, crampons, poles and waterproofs.

If someone in your group falls outside those limits, a scenic flight with a snow landing takes children from infancy and is wheelchair accessible on Glacier Helicopters’ Fox Glacier flight: heli-hike or scenic flight compares the two.

Shorter and longer days on the ice

Fox Glacier Guiding sells three heli-hikes on its own site, priced in New Zealand dollars (November 2026): the Fox Glacier Express, up to 1 hour on the ice for NZ$749; the Flying Fox, up to 3 hours on the ice for NZ$849, the trip on the calendar above; and the Extreme Fox, up to 7 hours on the ice from age 13 for NZ$1,049. The 3-hour trip is also on Viator: Fox Glacier Guiding's heli-hike on Viator, from US$501 (checked November 2026).

Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026; Viator checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.

If the weather closes in

All trips onto the ice depend on the weather. Fox Glacier Guiding makes its final weather call 10 minutes before departure and, if it cannot fly, refunds the trip in full or moves it to another departure. It still operates in rain. If cloud stops the helicopter collecting a group already on the ice, the company keeps emergency supplies on the glacier, tents, sleeping bags and food, and asks walkers to carry any medication they would need overnight. The weather page has the rest.