Why this ride
A 235 km round trip from Te Anau - roughly 3 h 17 in the saddle. It goes by way of Eglinton Valley, Homer Tunnel, Milford Sound and back through Homer Tunnel. The highest point is about 950 m.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Milford Road starting at Te Anau
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 235 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 17
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Road summary
A mountain fjord road from Te Anau, New Zealand to Milford Sound, New Zealand, via Eglinton Valley. Key character: glacial valleys; tunnel; waterfalls; fiord. Surface: paved.
Scenic road chapters
Milford Road (SH94)
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 13 km this is Milford Road (SH94), a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Rider note
Check the pass is open before you commit to it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 13 km
- Named road
- Milford Road (SH94)
- Pass
- Homer Tunnel
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Te Anau
Te Anau is the last proper town before Fiordland, and nearly everything about it is a preparation for the wild country beyond. It sits on the eastern shore of the lake of the same name, the biggest lake in the South Island, with the Kepler and Murchison mountains rising on the far side, and about two thousand people live here, serving the hikers, boaters and bus tours that pass through. Maori knew the area as a source of greenstone and a place to hunt weka and eel. In 1948 a doctor named Geoffrey Orbell found a small population of takahe, a large flightless bird thought extinct for fifty years, in a remote valley in the Murchison Mountains across the water, one of the great wildlife stories of New Zealand.
Read the complete Te Anau write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Te Anau is where the day begins. Next is Eglinton Valley.
2. Eglinton Valley
The Eglinton Valley is a long, flat-floored glacial trough in the heart of Fiordland, and the Milford Road runs straight down the middle of it for kilometres. The valley is walled by steep mountains, covered at their feet in red and silver beech forest and, higher, in bare grey rock, and the valley floor itself is a mosaic of golden tussock flats, meandering streams and clear pools. The effect is wide, quiet and impressive, and the road seems to disappear into the distance between the peaks.
Read the complete Eglinton Valley write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Eglinton Valley comes up 37 km in. Next is Homer Tunnel.
3. Homer Tunnel
Homer Tunnel is one of the great curiosities of New Zealand roads: a rough, unlined bore through a wall of granite, about 1.2 kilometres long, that connects the Hollyford and Cleddau valleys and opens the way to Milford Sound. Work began in 1935, when men with picks and shovels were hired to dig it as a Depression relief project, and it took until 1954 to finish, since avalanches, floods and the Second World War delayed progress. The tunnel's mouth sits at about 945 metres, at the foot of a vast cirque of rock walls and waterfalls, and the Homer Saddle above it was named after the man who found it in 1889.
Read the complete Homer Tunnel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
75 km in you reach Homer Tunnel. Next is Milford Sound.
4. Milford Sound
Milford Sound is not a sound at all, but a fjord, carved by a glacier and flooded by the sea, in the far south-west of New Zealand. Steep cliffs rise from the water to over 1,200 metres, including Mitre Peak, a pyramid of rock that dominates the view, and waterfalls drop from the heights, especially after rain, when hundreds appear. The area is part of Fiordland National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of the wettest places in the world, with about 6,800 millimetres of rain a year. There is no town here, only a small terminal for cruises, a few buildings and a runway. Te Anau, the nearest town, is about 120 kilometres away.
Read the complete Milford Sound write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Milford Sound, about halfway. Next is back through Homer Tunnel.
5. back through Homer Tunnel
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Homer Tunnel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Homer Tunnel sits at 149 km, about halfway. Next is back through Eglinton Valley.
6. back through Eglinton Valley
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Eglinton Valley write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Eglinton Valley comes up 187 km in. Next is Te Anau.
7. Te Anau
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Te Anau write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Te Anau closes the day.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Milford Road · 126 km
- Milford Road (149 km) · 118 km
- Queenstown day out · Te Wahipounamu - South West New Zealand · 397 km