LUSH GREEN WONDERLAND IN FOX GLACIER
28 SEPTEMBER 2023
Beautiful Torture
After a knee injury set me back from hiking for a couple of months, I was really determined to get out on a walk to somewhere beautiful, honestly anything to save me being stuck at home, looking at the uninterrupted views of the snowy Southern Alps from the lounge window in the house we were staying in, in Franz Josef... it was torture, but beautiful torture ;)
Whenever we go to a new area, I research the heck out of it before we go. I look at what walks and hikes, their length and location, what playgrounds are in the area for the girls and what fun indoor stuff we can do. So I had the Minnehaha Walk in Fox Glacier on my list already and to be honest, if I hadn't hurt my knee, it would have been at the bottom of my list (due to it being so short), but because it was only 20-minutes long and looked super beautiful, we decided to just do it!
The entire walk is under the rainforest canopy so it's perfect to do in all weather. It was a cloudy day when we went and even if it rained, we wouldn't get too wet along the way! The track starts at the south side of the Fox Glacier town and is a flat and easy loop. As soon as we started on the track we were already impressed! The rainforest was SO incredibly vibrant and lush, it was almost hard to believe our eyes and we felt like we were in a magical fairy forest (so common in the West Coast region).
Whenever we go to a new area, I research the heck out of it before we go. I look at what walks and hikes, their length and location, what playgrounds are in the area for the girls and what fun indoor stuff we can do. So I had the Minnehaha Walk in Fox Glacier on my list already and to be honest, if I hadn't hurt my knee, it would have been at the bottom of my list (due to it being so short), but because it was only 20-minutes long and looked super beautiful, we decided to just do it!
The entire walk is under the rainforest canopy so it's perfect to do in all weather. It was a cloudy day when we went and even if it rained, we wouldn't get too wet along the way! The track starts at the south side of the Fox Glacier town and is a flat and easy loop. As soon as we started on the track we were already impressed! The rainforest was SO incredibly vibrant and lush, it was almost hard to believe our eyes and we felt like we were in a magical fairy forest (so common in the West Coast region).
Keep Your Eyes Peeled For "Gold"
There were multiple streams running through the rainforest and we were surprised at how incredibly clear the water was. It would be such a fun place to spend a few hours in summer, splashing in the water and exploring the forest! This is one difference we have noticed between the North Island and South Island of New Zealand - how much clearer the water is in the south. Even the brown lakes, ponds and streams in the South Island are beautifully reflective, whereas in the North Island they just look muddy and brown, with zero reflection at all! It definitely makes exploring with kids a lot more fun as they can see beautiful shiny rocks in the water. There is a lot of schist around the South Island, so Arabella and Sienna were always keeping their eyes peeled for "gold".
We passed over a short bridge where Lath and the girls played Pooh Sticks. This is a must do for us on every bridge now! If you don't know what Pooh Sticks is, be sure to Google it but make sure the H is after poo or you might not get the right result! ;)
What we love about the Minnehaha Track is how crazy the trees are - they twist this way and that way and there are some huge trees with openings at the base that would make the most epic huts to play in! Sienna loves peering into holes and exploring caves and tunnels, so this track was right up her alley! She had a lot of fun going off the track to play in the trees. Even though it's a short track, you could easily spend a long time here taking photos, watching the kids explore the trees and streams and enjoying the beauty of the West Coast rainforest.
At nighttime you'll find a lot of glow worms on this track (and most West Coast tracks to be fair) but you'll need to be quiet and not have any torches on. The best place to spot them is under logs and in the trees and you can even spot their threads during the day if you look hard enough. Sienna can spot them from a mile away now as we have been to so many spots around with glow worms, like the Elvy Waterfall Track in Marlborough, Waipu Caves and Abbey Caves in Whangarei, the Terrace Walk and Tartare Tunnel Walks in Franz Josef.
We passed over a short bridge where Lath and the girls played Pooh Sticks. This is a must do for us on every bridge now! If you don't know what Pooh Sticks is, be sure to Google it but make sure the H is after poo or you might not get the right result! ;)
What we love about the Minnehaha Track is how crazy the trees are - they twist this way and that way and there are some huge trees with openings at the base that would make the most epic huts to play in! Sienna loves peering into holes and exploring caves and tunnels, so this track was right up her alley! She had a lot of fun going off the track to play in the trees. Even though it's a short track, you could easily spend a long time here taking photos, watching the kids explore the trees and streams and enjoying the beauty of the West Coast rainforest.
At nighttime you'll find a lot of glow worms on this track (and most West Coast tracks to be fair) but you'll need to be quiet and not have any torches on. The best place to spot them is under logs and in the trees and you can even spot their threads during the day if you look hard enough. Sienna can spot them from a mile away now as we have been to so many spots around with glow worms, like the Elvy Waterfall Track in Marlborough, Waipu Caves and Abbey Caves in Whangarei, the Terrace Walk and Tartare Tunnel Walks in Franz Josef.
Know Before You Go
- The Minnehaha Track is a flat, 20-minute track
- No bikes are allowed on this track
- The track is mostly covered under the rainforest canopy so it's a good option to do if it's raining
- This is the perfect playground for kids to explore
How To Get To The Minniehaha Walk in Fox Glacier
The trailhead to the Minnehaha Walk is on the south side of Fox Glacier town in the South Island of New Zealand. Look for a brown sign on the left hand side of the road that says "Glacier Valley Cycle Walkway" and you've found the right place! You'll come to a fork in the path and you need to go left. It's well sign posted. Click here for the link to Google Maps.
Park along the main road in Fox Glacier.
Park along the main road in Fox Glacier.
Conclusion
The Minnehaha Track is a flat and easy track that is suitable for all walking abilities. There is so much to explore along the way which makes it a perfect track for families. It's a bit of a photographer's paradise here also, so don't forget your camera!
Gallery of the Minnehaha Walk
Check out the rest of the awesomeness that didn't make it to the main blog but deserves to be shown.
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