Rob Roy Glacier Track

The Rob Roy is a hanging glacier - ice sitting in a high basin above a cliff, so it does not flow to the valley floor but calves off its lower edge, and blocks fall away and crash down the rock face at intervals through a warm day. The track from Raspberry Creek crosses the Matukituki on a swing bridge and climbs through beech forest for about ten kilometres return, opening at the top into a rock amphitheatre with the glacier above, waterfalls down the walls and kea usually somewhere in earshot. It takes three to four hours and is moderately steep in the middle section. The complication is the road: fifty kilometres from Wanaka, half of it unsealed, ending with unbridged fords that rise quickly after rain and are impassable in a low car. Many rental agreements exclude this road, and vehicles do get stuck. Check the forecast and the ford depth before committing.

The landscape

• The hanging glacier - ice calving off the lip during warm days.
• The rock amphitheatre - waterfalls down the walls at the head.
• The beech forest climb - the middle section of the track.
• Kea - usually present, and destructive to gear and cars.

When to go

November to April. Warm afternoons produce the most icefall. Check the ford levels - after rain they rise fast and the road becomes impassable.

Things to know

The access road has unbridged fords and many rental agreements exclude it. The track is steeper than the distance suggests. Kea will damage cars and packs left unattended. No facilities at the road end beyond a toilet.

Nearby

Wanaka is fifty kilometres east; the Matukituki Valley continues to the Aspiring Hut.

Key facts