Milford Road: New Zealand's Fiordland
🚗12 mapped stops
The road to Milford Sound — 75 miles from Te Anau through beech forest, past mirror lakes, and through the hand-carved Homer Tunnel into New Zealand's most dramatic fiord. Note: driving is on the left in New Zealand.
本导览的站点(12)
- 1 Te Anau — Fiordland Gateway The lakeside town of Te Anau sits on the edge of Fiordland National Park — one of the wettest, wildest, and most remote regions in the developed world.
- 2 Te Anau Downs Boat launches for the Milford Track depart from here. The lake reflects the Murchison Mountains — home to the last wild takahe, a flightless bird thought extinct until rediscovered in 1948.
- 3 Eglinton Valley — Mirror Lakes Small roadside tarns perfectly reflect the Earl Mountains on calm mornings. A boardwalk trail leads to the most photogenic viewpoint — the mirror effect is uncanny.
- 4 Knobs Flat Red beech forest — rata and kamahi — closes in as the valley narrows. Kea, the world's only alpine parrot, may land on your vehicle here. Protect your windscreen wipers.
- 5 Lake Gunn Nature Walk A 45-minute loop through moss-draped beech forest. Every surface is cushioned with emerald moss and lichen. The forest floor is a living carpet of green.
- 6 The Divide The lowest east-west pass in the Southern Alps at 531 meters. The Routeburn Track begins here — another of New Zealand's Great Walks through alpine wilderness.
- 7 Pop's Viewpoint A viewpoint over the Hollyford Valley. Mount Christina and Mount Crosscut rise sharply. Avalanche debris fields are visible on the slopes — evidence of the massive snowfalls these mountains receive.
- 8 Homer Tunnel — East Portal A 1.2-kilometer tunnel hand-carved through solid granite over 19 years, completed in 1953. Workers endured avalanches, floods, and near-total isolation during construction.
- 9 The Chasm The Cleddau River has carved bizarre rock formations — potholes, bridges, and channels sculpted by thousands of years of rushing water through the hard metamorphic rock.
- 10 Milford Sound — Mitre Peak Mitre Peak rises 1,692 meters directly from the fiord's black water. Rudyard Kipling called Milford Sound the "eighth wonder of the world." Waterfalls cascade from hanging valleys on every side.
- 11 Milford Sound Foreshore The road ends at the fiord's edge. Boat cruises depart past Stirling Falls and into the Tasman Sea through the fiord's narrow entrance. Dolphins, seals, and rare Fiordland crested penguins inhabit these waters.
- 12 Bowen Falls A 162-meter waterfall plunging into the fiord. After heavy rain — which falls here 200 days a year — temporary waterfalls appear on every cliff face, creating a spectacle of cascading water.
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