If you’re looking for an adventurous hike in Franz Josef then the Roberts Point Track is the top choice. There’s never a dull moment; with four swing bridges, countless waterfalls, lots of scrambling and a truly jaw dropping view of the glacier. Several walks in Franz Josef have glacier views, but none are as immersive as the one at the end of the Roberts Point Track - you feel like you are in the scene, not merely a spectator.
Depending on which route you take, you’ll also pass a pool with a fabulous mountain reflection, which would be a worthy destination in its own right.
It’s not an easy hike, but it’s also not overly difficult if you visit in dry conditions. We’re sharing everything you need to know about the walk including lots of detail on all the scrambles.
The Roberts Point Track
The stats
Distance: 11.8km
Elevation: 670m
Difficulty: Hard
The Roberts Point Track is one worth allocating a decent amount of time to, we took 5 hours to do the trail (there and back). You will likely be able to do it a fair bit quicker in dry conditions, but we didn’t meet anyone who did it much quicker (in winter when it never fully dries out) without a few slips!
Before walking the track I’d read quite a bit about how difficult it was, and the signs at the trailhead even tragically mention that several people have lost their lives on this walk.
Having now done it myself and looked into how the accidents came about, the main issue is people wandering off the trail (and trying to cross the river) and people inadequately prepared for bad weather.
If you allow yourself plenty of time, don’t leave the marked track and don’t hike in bad weather, the risks would be very minimal. The main issue with hiking in the rain (which can be hard to avoid on the West Coast!) is that there is a significant amount of rock scrambling involved, which becomes very slick when wet.
As many small streams cross the track you are unlikely to get a 100% dry run, but you can really limit the wet slippery patches by choosing a dry day.
In dry weather there isn’t anything along the track that I would describe as hairy, but any wet sections were super slippery and require care.
The two possible start points
You can choose to start this walk at the Glacier car park or the Alex Knob car park. Starting from the Glacier car park adds on an additional 1.3km (total) to the walk, but it allows you to check out Peters Pool.
If you have a calm clear day, the chance to see the mountains and glacier reflected in the pool is well worth the additional walk.
If you have a very windy day there won’t be any reflection so it’s not a biggie to miss it.
Starting the trail at Glacier car park: to Peters Pool
The walk begins on a wide gravel trail between the pretty rainforest. It is just 500m, which is pretty much all flat, to reach Peters Pool.
The pool is actually a small kettle lake formed a couple of hundred years ago when a huge block of ice was left behind during the glacier’s retreat.
Without a reflection it would be a small pool with a lovely mountain backdrop, but with the reflection it is really quite special. As we were hiking in winter half of the pool was frozen, but the reflection was still really impressive and I can only imagine how good it is when you can see it in full.
You will need a calm day to see the reflection. This tends to be more likely in the mornings, but we lucked out with great conditions in the afternoon.
The fun begins
The gravel path continues past Peters Pool for the next 900m. It’s briefly uphill and then heads downhill and flattens.
At the 1.4km mark you’ll reach a junction and the official Roberts Point Track begins. You’ll head over the first swing bridge which takes you over the ultra blue river and into the forest.
You’ll have a couple of stream crossings, but unless there has been a huge amount of rainfall the rocks make it easy to cross and you don’t need to worry about wet boots!
As soon as you are over the first bridge the path is less manicured, but it’s still pretty good and there aren’t any tricky bits for a long while.
The forest is gorgeous with plenty of moss, ferns and hanging vines. It’s also either flat or very gently uphill.
Just over a kilometre after leaving the first bridge you’ll arrive at the second, and this one is quite different!
It’s a much smaller rope bridge which sways and creaks as you walk - check out the sway at the end of the bridge when someone crosses - it’s the wobbliest one I have ever seen!
It’s wide and easy to cross though, and you’ll start to get a little taste of the views to come.
To the big daddy of swing bridges
After the rope bridge you’ll continue in the forest. It’s a gravel track but with some rocks and tree roots to watch out for.
There’s a bit of a hump to go up and down and then you’ll arrive at the longest swing bridge I have ever seen - over 100m long!
This was easily one of my favourite bits of the whole track, and even if you don’t like the idea of the final scramble to the viewpoint, it’s well worth doing the walk up to this swing bridge for the sheer novelty factor.
It’s 2.9km into the walk from Glacier car park and even closer from Alex Knob.
It’s quite a narrow bridge and has some good sway. It’s one of those things that people will either love or hate. I loved it and think most people will feel the same!
The views are also spectacular, it’s the first time you’ll get a good look at the mountains and there are so many waterfalls cascading down the rock too.
The climb to Hende's Hut
Once you’re over the swing bridge the path starts to get really steep, but it is still pretty easy terrain-wise. The track winds up through the forest for a couple of hundred metres before you cross over a waterfall.
There are plenty of rocks to easily cross and in dry weather they aren’t slippery. After this you have one easy scramble up some footholds cut into the rock before you’re back on the narrow gravel track once again.
At this point I was wondering if the difficulty of the hike was severely overstated, but it does get harder towards the end - although even in the early part of the track there are a lot of rocks to walk over which could be slippery and more challenging when wet.
After the scramble the gradient eases and you’ll soon come out of the forest to a bench seat with a good view of the mountains. After crossing some rocky slabs you’ll arrive at Hende's Hut.
This is an old dilapidated hut which you can’t sleep in but could use as a shelter in wet weather - you wouldn’t want to sit in it in anything less really, especially with that lovely bench seat just 150m before.
Just beyond Hende's Hut you’ll come to another of my favourite features along the trail - the floating staircase.
The stairs feel like they are suspended on the side of the cliff and I’ve never seen any steps quite like it before. The mountain views are great and the stairs make what is quite a steep descent really easy.
The start of the scramble
At the bottom of the steps you’ll cross another waterfall, and again there are plenty of rocks to help. Just beyond the waterfall you’ll leave the forest and come to the start of the scramble.
When dry the steep rocky slabs are grippy and easy to walk up.
I’m not sure if we had frost melt or whether parts are always wet but the route up was wet and extremely slippery. The kind of thing where you just feel your feet go from under you and there’s nothing you can do. I decided to avoid the damp footholds in the end and walk up the section that was dry and had some grip.
If the foothold route is dry for you it will be quite easy and if it’s not I recommend using a dry alternative, or go slow and steady if the whole thing is wet.
It’s only a 50m climb before you reach the fourth and final swingbridge. This one is narrow, but shorter and has less sway than the large one. It also looks down on a river with many gorgeous cascades that drop into the valley.
The big scramble
After the bridge you’ll have several more steep rocky slabs to climb - some are easier than others depending on if they are wet or dry.
You’ll then enter the forest again and the scrambling is on a mix of rock and tree roots. The best way to do this section is to try to hike to the sides of the rocks, where there are tree roots to grab if needed.
On the way up it’s all pretty straightforward, as you don’t really feel like you’ll slip. I found it harder to descend, but more on that later.
You will have to use your hands to steady yourself at points, but it’s not too hard and the tree roots give an extra feeling of security.
The hardest thing is trying to go slow and steady so you don’t lose concentration on the wet bits which are slippery - generally the rocks.
This whole section is steep. but not vertical as I had heard it described (and had been quite worried about!).
Just before you reach the 5km mark and just over a kilometre past the bridge, the scramble is over. The last section feels so easy after that!
You are still climbing but it’s on a mix of track, rock and tree roots and whilst you have to watch your footing, it never requires using your hands and is much more like a typical hiking track.
You’ll pass another gorgeous waterfall and then have a final steep climb over rocky track to the viewpoint.
The Roberts Point Lookout
The Roberts Point lookout exceeded all my expectation. It’s a real wow factor moment.
I had wanted to walk this track more for the swing bridges and the adventure than the view - because having done the Alex Knob Track the day before - I didn’t think the view could come close.
It does.
Although you are fenced in (which I normally don’t really like) you feel part of the view, like you’re inside it somehow, rather than viewing it from a distance. I don’t think you can really capture that fully in photos but you’ll see when you get there!
The glacier looms over you and the surrounding jagged peaks look incredibly dramatic. The main waterfall that flows down the mountainside would be a must see attraction anywhere else!
It’s simply spectacular.
I honestly couldn’t believe just how phenomenal this spot is and the circling Kea only added to the atmosphere.
As we were hiking in winter, the bench seating was very welcome as there was somewhere dry to sit (there isn’t on Alex Knob in winter due to frost and snow). It’s a very hard spot to leave!
The descent
In the end it was only the dwindling daylight hours and the slight anxiety over how hard the scramble might be in reverse that got me moving again.
It turned out that there were so many tree roots to hold on to that I hadn’t noticed or needed on the way up, that made it easier than I’d been expecting.
I also chose to go down backwards, like a ladder, on some sections which made me feel much more stable. As quite an inept scrambler I often go down on my bum, but I only needed to do that on the very final part, past the rope bridge because it was soaking wet.
That’s not to say that it was quick coming down though, but slow and steady meant it wasn’t too bad. We’d met someone on the way down as we were heading up and they said they’d slipped twice and it was pretty bad, so that made me go very slowly and cautiously.
Past the scramble, most of the way back required some care with footing, as I always find it harder going down than up, but it’s no different to most steep hiking trails.
We had started the track late and did end up walking the very end of the trail (the wide gravel section) in the twilight/dark which was fine because it’s all straightforward by then and we saw quite a few glow worms!
I would recommend coming down the whole of the steep section in the light though, as it just makes it that bit trickier if you’ve trying to negotiate tricky terrain with a headtorch.
Overall the Roberts Point Track is a truly fantastic hike for those who don’t mind some rough terrain. The scenery is spectacular, swing bridges fun, and there really is never a dull moment.
Even going as far as the floating steps - before any scrambling - is a great walk and well worth it. It was easily one of my favourite things to do in Franz Josef.
Essential information about the Roberts Point Track
The weather
The best time to do this hike is generally in the morning as the glacier and mountains often disappear under cloud in the afternoon.
Having said that, we did the hike in the afternoon and got lucky, so if you can’t do the morning it’s still worth doing later and hoping for clear skies.
Where to park
If you want to do the slightly shorter track, starting at Alex Knob car park you’ll probably want to arrive early in peak season as there are very few parking spaces.
The other start point is Glacier car park and this one is much bigger and we’ve never struggled to park here, even in peak season.
You could even walk or cycle from town but that does add on a fair bit of extra time to an already longish walk.
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