Mount Cook with kids

6 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

For a family, the area around Aoraki/Mount Cook divides neatly in two. In the national park, the walks are short and well made, and a helicopter flight from the village takes children of any age. Around Lake Tekapo and Twizel, the farms offer animals to feed, the hot pools have a play area, and several stargazing tours accept children. What needs planning is the age limit of each tour, the cold, and the late hour at which the stars come out in summer.

Short walks from the village

Several DOC walks start in Mount Cook Village and take less than an hour. The Bowen Bush Walk is a 10-minute loop, the Glencoe Walk 30 minutes return with 40 m of climb, and the Governors Bush Walk a one-hour loop through the bush. Kea Point takes about one hour return from White Horse Hill Campground or two hours from the village, with 180 m of height gain to a viewing platform.

The Hooker Valley Track is the classic family walk of the park. DOC grades it Easy, with a gravel surface and some steps, 80 m of climb over about 5 km and three swing bridges. Allow three hours return from White Horse Hill. Toilets are 15 minutes after the second bridge, and there are wheelchair-accessible toilets at the campground. DOC gives no information on pushchairs, so ask at the visitor centre.

In the Tasman Valley, the Tasman Lake Track takes 50 to 60 minutes return with no height gain. The Tasman Glacier View Track is shorter but climbs more than 300 steps, which tires small legs. The Hooker Valley Track page has more on the walk.

Ages for flights and glacier tours

The helicopter flight with Glacier Helicopters leaves from Bowen Drive in the village and takes 30 minutes including an alpine landing. That keeps the outing short enough for younger children. More flights are on the scenic flights page.

From the age of 4, children can join the boat trip among the icebergs on Tasman Lake, which the Hermitage runs from September to June under the name Glacier Explorers. Everyone has to manage the 1.5 km walk between the car park and the jetty in about 25 minutes each way. You book it directly with the hotel, and family passes are available by phone or email only.

Stargazing with children

The main obstacle is the time. Around midsummer, evening twilight in the village lasts until about 22:00, so tours begin late and some run past midnight. In June it is dark soon after 17:45, which makes winter the easier season for younger children. The indoor session at the Dark Sky Project base in Tekapo is the fallback for cloudy nights and bedtime: 45 minutes of Māori star lore, multimedia displays and a historic telescope, suitable for all ages. At Cowan's Observatory, purpose-built craters keep out the wind and stray light, which helps on a cold night with children.

Nights at Tekapo are cold in every season, so bring hats, gloves and warm jackets. The Twizel tour with an astronomer ends with a photo of you under the stars; there are no toilets on site. The stargazing page compares all tours.

Animals, farms and hot pools

At the petting zoo in Lake Tekapo township, children hand-feed Merino sheep, alpacas, pigs and cattle in a visit of about 30 minutes, and can bottle-feed lambs when they are available. The petting zoo in Twizel adds tahr and horses, with lambs from November to February; sessions are limited, so book ahead. On the high-country farm tour, a 4WD van takes up to ten guests across a Tekapo farm to Swan Tarn and ends with alpaca feeding. The shearing and sheepdog show lasts an hour, but transport to the farm is not included.

Tekapo Springs has hot pools from 36.5 to 38.5 °C, cooler pools and an aqua play area, and the day pass lets you come and go. One hot pool area is for adults only.

In the park itself, look out for kea, the mountain parrot found only in New Zealand. DOC lists it as nationally endangered and asks visitors never to feed it.

Safety with children

The glacial lakes in the Hooker and Tasman valleys are typically about 3 °C and can cause hypothermia quickly. DOC warns not to climb on icebergs, which can tip without warning, and asks everyone to stay on the tracks. UV is damaging from September to April and all year around snow and ice, so pack sunscreen and hats. There is no pharmacy in the village, and the nearest is about 70 km away, so bring children's medicine with you. In an emergency, call 111.