Why this ride
The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,200 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
West Coast Glacier Highway: Franz Josef to Haast
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 145 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 02
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. 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.
Scenic road chapters
West Coast Glacier Highway
Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 40 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 23 km
- Named road
- West Coast Glacier Highway
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Franz Josef
The glacier is the reason for the village. Franz Josef, named in 1865 by the German geologist Julius von Haast after the Austrian emperor, flows from the high snowfields of the Southern Alps down a steep valley to within a few hundred metres of the rainforest, a rare sight at this latitude. The Māori name, Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere, means the tears of the avalanche girl, and recalls a legend of a woman whose grief at the loss of her lover froze into the ice. The glacier has been retreating for years, and the walk to the terminal face grows longer.
Read the complete Franz Josef write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Franz Josef is where the day begins. Next is Fox Glacier.
2. Fox Glacier
Fox Glacier is the small village below the glacier of the same name on the West Coast, where the Southern Alps drop more than three thousand metres in just a few dozen kilometres, and the climate is a wet and warm one. The glacier was named after William Fox, a premier of New Zealand in the 1870s, and it is one of the few in the world that comes down into temperate rainforest, so that a river of ice ends among tree ferns, which is a remarkable sight. A short walk from the car park takes you to the viewpoint, and the glacier has retreated considerably over the last century, so check where you can safely walk.
Read the complete Fox Glacier write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fox Glacier comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Haast.
3. Haast
Haast is the last outpost before the wilderness. For decades, it was cut off by rivers and forest, and the road north to Fox Glacier was only completed in 1965, making it the last link in the West Coast highway.
Read the complete Haast write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 145 km.
Leg by leg
Franz Josef to Fox Glacier
Franz Josef → Fox Glacier is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fox Glacier to Haast
Fox Glacier → Haast is 122 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- West Coast Glacier Highway: Hokitika to Fox Glacier · 158 km
- Haast Pass Road · 144 km
- West Coast Glacier Highway (735 km) · 419 km