The Alex Knob Track has the wow factor. It offers one of the best views of Franz Josef Glacier, as well as the incredible surrounding mountain range. A vista so incredible that even during a winter visit we stayed up there for one hour and 15 minutes!
Although it’s a fairly long hike to reach the top - and it’s uphill most of the way - the climb is generally quite gradual (this doesn’t mean it isn’t steep overall though!). There are rocks and tree roots to negotiate, but no difficult scrambling and the reward for your efforts is oh so worth it.
If you don’t want to walk the whole way, there are two natural turn around points that offer great glacier views which we’ll detail in the notes below. Here’s exactly what to expect on the Alex Knob Track.
The Alex Knob Track
The stats
Distance: 17km (17.8km if you include Wombat Lake)
Elevation: 1,200m
Difficulty: Moderate - hard
DOC rates this track as advanced, so we were expecting the trail conditions to be much more difficult than they actually were.
The track is rough for a fair amount of the way - in the sense that it is rocky and has many tree roots - but there is little to no scrambling, and certainly nothing that felt hairy.
The walk is long and there is a considerable amount of uphill, but it’s not one of those calf burning endlessly steep tracks like Roys Peak. It’s a fairly gradual climb for most of the way with some sections so shallow as to almost feel flat.
Although some people will walk it much more quickly we’d recommend somewhere in the region of 5.5-6.5 hours to complete the track, and more time if you love to linger at viewpoints.
Know before you go
The weather in this area is known for clouding over in the afternoon. If you can, you should aim to be at the top of Alex Knob before midday. This is also the time of day when the glacier is beginning to come out of the shadows of the surrounding mountains.
The forest on route is gorgeous but it really is all about those views and you want to give yourself the best shot at clear skies. You can definitely get lucky later in the day too, but it’s a good rule of thumb that conditions are best in the morning.
It’s worth noting that we did this trail in late June - New Zealand winter. So the photos of snow and ice aren’t going to be relevant at most other times of year!
What to expect on the walk
Starting the trail
The start of the Alex Knob Track is shared with the trail to Lake Wombat, so it’s a well graded wide gravel path.
It’s flat for the first few hundred metres, before you walk over a pretty steep hump. This is the steepest part of the whole track and not indicative of what’s to come!
After heading down the hump, it quickly becomes much more gradual, before you arrive at the junction with Lake Wombat after 1.4km.
I’d recommend visiting on the way back, as you want to give yourself the best chance of clear skies at the top of Alex Knob!
To Rata Lookout - 4.5km from the trailhead
Once you leave the Lake Wombat Track, the path narrows and steepens but it’s still a well formed track. You’ll begin climbing on a series of switchbacks, most of which are long and sloping.
There are some steps in the form of rocks, but generally the gravel continues. The forest is gorgeous and you feel more immersed in it now that the track is narrower.
Although you do hear the buzz of helicopters heading up to the glacier, for me, the overwhelming sound was that of the birds, and it was beautiful. We were lucky enough to hear Kea calling many times along the track.
After just under 2km from the turn off you’ll come to a partial opening of trees and you can see out to Lake Mapourika and the ocean beyond. In the early morning the lake is often covered in a thick fog which was very pretty from above.
It’s a good view but not a patch on what’s to come.
A little more climbing later - still on good track - and you’ll reach Rata Lookout. Rata Lookout offers a fantastic view of Franz Josef Glacier, albeit a less open view than the next lookout along.
If you’re heading up in the morning, it will be in partial shadow, but hopefully you luck out with clear conditions on the way down and you can get a better photo then.
To Christmas Lookout - 6km from the trailhead
Roughly 500m after leaving Rata Lookout the path gets less manicured and it’s the start of climbing over rocks and tree roots.
As we previously mentioned, it’s not difficult it just slows you down a bit - more so on the way down than the way up. We had a couple of very short shallow muddy sections, but nothing major and the tree roots usually acted as logs to get across.
The path gets a bit steeper in this section too and occasionally you might use your hands to pull on a root to get up, but nothing like the Roberts Point Track, if you’ve also done that hike whilst in Franz Josef.
Approximately 1.5km after leaving Rata Lookout you’ll reach Christmas Lookout.
This is a similar view to Rata, but higher up and more open, it feels a lot more expansive. It was my favourite of the two viewpoints and a worthy walk in its own right.
There are a couple of logs and rocks to sit on so it makes for a good rest stop before completing the final section of track up to Alex Knob.
To Alex Knob - 8.5km from the trailhead
Up until Christmas Lookout you will have been walking under the full cover of the forest. A little way beyond the lookout you’ll start to reach more open sections of trail.
It’s not fully exposed to the elements until very close to the top but you’re not in dense forest anymore. We were walking in winter and we hit snow and ice 800m beyond Christmas Lookout - but nothing that required anymore than our Yaktrax.
It got fully icy a kilometre further along (1.8km after Christmas Lookout) but again very manageable - we’ll include more details on winter hiking conditions at the bottom of the post as we know it won’t apply to many people!
As you begin traversing the more open trail, you’ll start to see the tops of the snow-capped mountains in one direction and steep hills and ocean in the other.
It’s simply spectacular and it’s hard to know which direction to look in!
The higher you climb the better the views get and you know it’s going to be a phenomenal sight at the top.
The track is quite narrow and much steeper now, but it’s not one of those trails that feels like you could slip and roll off the mountain!
You’ll be walking through snow tussock and depending on the season, wildflowers. We saw the remnants of Snow daisies long since wilted which would be a gorgeous sight in other seasons.
The final 500m of track is fully open as you make your way through the tussocks to Alex Knob.
Arriving at Alex Knob
The view from the top is out of this world, not just of Franz Josef Glacier, but also the surrounding mountains and you’ll find a plane table which shows you the names of all the peaks you are looking at.
You can admire the view from here and then follow the ridge line a little to the right on a narrow track which gets you even closer to the glacier.
If it isn’t clear up here when you arrive, it’s worth waiting it out a bit. The weather can change really quickly and a view can appear from under thick clouds within minutes. There are often cloud inversions up here too.
It is very exposed to the elements though and even in summer I would bring extra layers.
There isn’t anywhere to sit as such but in dry weather you could sit on the tussocks. We visited in winter when everything was either frozen, wet or under snow, but we still stayed for ages, such is the beauty of the view.
The descent and side trail to Lake Wombat
The way back is pretty much all downhill or flat. The first half is a little slower as the track is a bit rougher but you can pick up speed a little while after Christmas Lookout.
After 7km you will reach the junction with Lake Wombat. It’s just over 400m from here to the lake, back on a well maintained gravel path. There’s a little bit of downhill but not enough to be off-putting!
Whilst the lake isn’t one of New Zealand’s brightly coloured ones, it is still lovely. On a clear, still day the reflections are incredible. It can be hard to see where the reflections start and the scenery around you stops!
You don’t get mountains, but the trees and in particular the moss were quite mesmerising.
We were there in the afternoon and it was a perfect little sun trap. There’s a bench and you can sit and listen to the amazing bird sounds. There seemed to be more around the lake than at any other part of the walk, and it filled the air with the most relaxing chorus.
I could easily have lay down and taken a little nap! On a windy day it might be less alluring, but for us it was the perfect end to a great walk.
On leaving the lake you have 1.1km to go to reach the car park, apart from a tiny amount of uphill, it’s all flat and a very leisurely end to the trail.
All in all, we loved the Alex Knob Track and the view is simply sublime. It is mainly through forest though so if you want an action packed trail and you don’t mind a much rougher path you might want to also consider the Roberts Point Track. Both these walks rank high on our list of the best things to do in Franz Josef.
Essential information about the Alex Knob Track
Where to park
The Alex Knob car park is located 3.5km from Franz Josef town centre and takes less than 10 minutes to reach. There isn’t room for many cars though so if visiting in peak season it’s another reason to start early.
Hiking the Alex Knob Track in winter
Before arriving in Franz Josef we weren’t sure we’d be able to walk the track. The DOC website mentions snow above Christmas Lookout and that you need experience walking in alpine conditions in winter, which we didn’t have.
I gave the Westland Tai Poutini National Park Visitor Centre a call to ask about current conditions and they were so helpful. Luckily for us they knew there wasn’t much snow up there so we felt confident.
As mentioned, there was just under 2km of patchy snow and ice, which got less patchy the higher you got. We were able to walk up the ice with normal boots without any problems, but elected to use our Yaktrax on the way down for extra grip - they make a huge difference.
You might experience much more snow than we did, but DOC will know how it is, so if you are concerned I would definitely give them a call. The route does not cross avalanche country so you’re ok in that regard.
Walking the Alex Knob Track in the rain
As it rains so often in Franz Josef, walking in the rain is a definite possibility. I would say just go more slowly on the rocks and tree roots and maybe bring poles for the way down. Lots of the track was damp for us from melted frost and it wasn’t very slippery. In this regard it is a much better choice in the rain than say the Roberts Point Track.
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