Mirror Lakes

The Mirror Lakes are a set of small ponds in the Eglinton Valley on the road to Milford, left behind when the glacier that carved the valley retreated. A boardwalk of a few hundred metres runs along them, and when the air is still they reflect the Earl Mountains across the valley with enough fidelity that a sign at the water's edge is printed upside down so it reads correctly in the reflection - which is the detail everyone photographs. The honest part is the conditional: this only works when the water is glassy, which in practice means early morning before the valley wind gets up, and even then not every day. By mid-morning, when most of the coach traffic arrives on the way to Milford, the surface is usually rippled and the lakes are simply small ponds. It is a five-minute stop either way, and worth timing rather than taking as it comes.

What you actually see

• The reflection - the Earl Mountains inverted, on still mornings only.
• The upside-down sign - printed to read correctly in the water.
• The boardwalk - a few hundred metres along the ponds.
• The Eglinton Valley - the glacier-cut trough around them.

When to go

Early morning, October to April, before the valley wind starts - that is the only reliable window. Later in the day the water is usually rippled and there is no reflection.

Honest expectations

The reflection depends entirely on stillness, and most visitors arrive mid-morning and see none. It is a twenty-minute stop, not a destination. Sandflies at the boardwalk. Coach traffic clusters here.

Nearby

The Eglinton Valley runs north to the Divide; Te Anau is south.