Milford Sound

Overview: 

Chris­tened as the ‘8th won­der of the world’ by Rud­yard Kipling, the glis­ten­ing tran­quil jew­el of New Zealand’s Ford­land, the won­der of Mil­ford Sounds is a stun­ning spec­ta­cle of pure beau­ty, shin­ing nat­ur­al ener­gy and a true mag­i­cal par­adise oasis, filled with some of the worlds most spec­tac­u­lar dense rain­for­est, tow­er­ing cliff for­ma­tions, moun­tain peaks, charm­ing waters and some of the world’s great­est water­falls and hikes – mak­ing it tru­ly life up to the rep­u­ta­tion Kipling has bestowed upon it and an unde­ni­able won­der of the world.  

Found in the Te Wai­pouna­mu part of the South Island of New Zealand, Mil­ford Sound – which despite it’s name is a Fjord as opposed to a sound – the stun­ning beau­ty Mil­ford Sound has the unique hon­our of being the only Fjord acces­si­ble by road in new Zealand, with the glis­ten­ing peaks and beau­ty of this incred­i­ble won­der hav­ing been formed more than 600 mil­lion years ago as a result of by the ero­sion of Glac­i­ers. It is this unique for­ma­tion – com­bined with Mil­ford Sounds unique posi­tion on the South Island of New Zealand that helps both pro­tect and allows for the thriv­ing of serene scenery at Mil­ford Falls – with the area being blessed with a con­stant flow of rain – with rain show­ers occur­ring on aver­age once every oth­er day – which helps pre­serve mag­ic of this stun­ning nat­ur­al par­adise.  

Envi­ron­ment: This con­stant and depen­dent rain source also sus­tains life with­in Mil­ford Sound – with the Fjord hav­ing become a safe haven for some of New Zealand’s most icon­ic wildlife – includ­ing Dol­phins, Seals and pen­guins, all of whom can be eas­i­ly spot­ted relax­ing and enjoy­ing stun­ning beau­ty of Mil­ford Sound, not least the cas­cad­ing icon­ic Mitre peak, the under­wa­ter obser­va­to­ry of Har­ri­son Cove, the spec­tac­u­lar water­falls of Bowen and Stir­ling Falls and the sheer tow­er­ing rock faces – where con­stant streams of water plum­met from 1000 metres in the sky down into the dark waters – some 900 feet — to the depths of the Fjord.  

Tru­ly mag­i­cal, Mil­ford Sound is also blessed with its own unique ecosys­tem in the Tas­man Sea, with a ven­ture into the chop­py and some­what bumpy waters of the Tas­man Sea being an undoubt­ed high­light on any jour­ney through the waters of Mil­ford Sound. In fact, it’s the chance to cruise along the waters of the Tas­man Sea – com­bined with get­ting an up close view at the true beaty of Mil­ford Sound that makes a boat cruise on these reflec­tive waters one of the best ways to explore this incred­i­ble won­der.  

Explore: Tak­ing you on a true jour­ney past the glis­ten­ing water­falls, tow­er­ing peaks and into some of the most tran­quil Fjord­land on the plan­et, cruis­es can be under­tak­en at both day and night – with the sun­rise and sun­set cruis­es being par­tic­u­lar­ly spe­cial. You can also expect a cruise to offer some of the best pho­tog­ra­phy shots of this incred­i­ble won­der – with most boats tak­ing you up close for a splash at Lady Bowen and Stir­ling Falls and giv­ing you a pic­ture-per­fect shot of Mitre Peak, with those look­ing for some­thing extra spe­cial encour­aged to board the overnight cruise where you can relax on the peace­ful waters of Mil­ford Sound beneath the clear night skies and stars for a tru­ly spir­i­tu­al expe­ri­ence.  

A tru­ly serene land and one of the only places in the world where water can flow upstream, Mil­ford Sound is also ful­ly explorable by Kayak – where you can pad­dle your way through the calm waters encoun­ter­ing curi­ous wildlife, mag­nif­i­cent vis­tas, water­falls and tow­er­ing cliffs – through Scu­ba Div­ing – where you have the chance to explore the rare and fad­ing and black coral – and on a scenic dri­ve, where the great scenic high­way 94 will take you to some tru­ly incred­i­ble look­outs where you can enjoy sweep­ing views of the won­der of Mil­ford Sound.  

 Mil­ford Sound is also home to two of New Zealand’s great hikes – and some of the great­est and most scenic hikes on the plan­et, with the icon­ic 4 day Mil­ford Trek see­ing you under­take a boat ride and then take on a 53 kilo­me­tre hike along the MacK­in­non Pass – pass­ing over the Clin­ton riv­er,  Roar­ing Burn trail and Giant Gates Water­fall – where you can expect the trek to give you incred­i­ble views over not only the snow capped Moun­tain peaks but also some of the best views over Mil­ford Sound while pass­ing and ascend­ing up tow­er­ing cliffs, over glis­ten­ing lakes and along­side thun­der­ous water­falls – for a scenic, chal­leng­ing and tru­ly beau­ti­ful hike – which is undoubt­ed­ly one of the worlds best.  

Avail­able also as an incred­i­ble day hike – known as the Mil­ford Track Day walk – where hik­ers can take in the mighty Giant Gates falls and expe­ri­ence the Arthur Riv­er and glis­ten­ing Lake Ada – as well as stun­ning views over Mil­ford Sound, the hikes and treks avail­able along the incred­i­ble won­der of Mil­ford Sound are tru­ly stun­ning and are undoubt­ed­ly one of the great­est spots in the world to enjoy and re-con­nect to the tran­quil­li­ty and beau­ty of nature.  

A won­der of the world where you’ll need to come pre­pared for all weath­er con­di­tions – with those vis­it­ing on rainy days like­ly to get a lit­tle wet but enjoy glis­ten­ing free-flow­ing water­falls and stun­ning reflec­tive views over the Fjords – Mil­ford Sound is also one of the last nat­ur­al won­ders where you can find true tran­quil­li­ty – with the sur­round­ing area not only hav­ing been per­fect­ly pre­served, but there being a wel­come absence of tourist shops, com­mer­cial­i­sa­tion fast food restau­rants and even phone recep­tion in the area – help­ing to pre­serve the tran­quil­li­ty and peace­ful­ness of the stun­ning Fjord.  

It is this absence of com­mer­cial­i­sa­tion, com­bined with the stun­ning beau­ty of the Fjord and its encom­pass­ing water­falls, tow­er­ing peaks and glis­ten­ing waters – as well as the chance to take on some of the great­est hikes on the plan­et – that makes Mil­ford Sound both a true haven for explor­ers seek­ing the best of nature and a per­fect place for those seek­ing soli­tude, peace­ful­ness and a re-con­nec­tion to nature, but a tru­ly mag­i­cal nat­ur­al par­adise and an undoubt­ed won­der of the world.  

Where:  

 A jew­el of New Zealand, Mil­ford Sound is found in an iso­lat­ed spot on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand – deep in the heart of the Fiord­land Nation­al Park and part of the Te Wahi­pouna­mu Her­itage site. A won­der filled with stun­ning nat­ur­al beau­ty includ­ing tow­er­ing peaks, cas­cad­ing water­falls and some of the most serene and tran­quil waters on the plan­et, Mil­ford Sound tru­ly allows explor­ers to re-con­nect with nature, with there being a lack of com­mer­cial­i­sa­tion along the Fjord and there being only a few accom­mo­da­tion options in the sur­round­ing area, luck­i­ly though the bustling towns of Queen­stown and Te Anau lie just 70 kilo­me­tres away, mak­ing Mil­ford Sound eas­i­ly acces­si­ble and easy to get to.  

Getting There: 

The only Fjord across New Zealand that can be accessed by road, the acces­si­bil­i­ty of Mil­ford Sound undoubt­ed­ly enhances the expe­ri­ence of trav­el­ling to and explor­ing this incred­i­ble serene won­der – with Mil­ford Sound lying a short dri­ve away from the towns of Queen­stown and Te Anau – mak­ing dri­ving to the won­der incred­i­bly easy.  

Accessed along the tru­ly scenic high­way 94 – or the Mil­ford Sound high­way – a dri­ve to the fjord is a jour­ney in itself, with the road – which is undoubt­ed­ly one of the worlds most scenic and beau­ti­ful — tak­ing you through the heart of the Fjord­land park along­side snow-capped peaks, rolling glac­i­er carved val­leys and illu­mi­nat­ing green bush for­est — for a true jour­ney through the wilder­ness of New Zealand. Dri­vers who take on the high­way can expect to come upon and stop at mul­ti­ple view­points that give incred­i­ble pho­tog­ra­phy oppor­tu­ni­ties out over the val­ley – the reflec­tive and one of the great pho­to spots of Mil­ford Sound in the Mir­ror lakes, the Glac­i­er backed val­ley of Eglin­ton and pass through the hand carved 1.2 km long Homer Tun­nel – for a thrilling expe­ri­ence dri­ving through a Glac­i­er.  

While the beau­ty and thrill of tak­ing on the Mil­ford Sound high­way to reach the Fjord is why we’d real­ly rec­om­mend explor­ers to self-dri­ve to Mil­ford Sound out of either Queen­stown and Te Anau – for those who don’t fan­cy dri­ving them­selves in a for­eign coun­try, you’ll also find a range of alter­na­tive options to reach Mil­ford Sound by road includ­ing a bus trip and on a guid­ed tour – with both options giv­ing you a more relaxed approach to the Fjord and ensur­ing you get to stop at all the scenic high­lights along the way for an unfor­get­table expe­ri­ence.  

Yet whichev­er way you take the road to Mil­ford Sound, we’d strong­ly advise to make sure you stay at this incred­i­ble won­der allows for at least one day overnight in the com­pa­ny of the Fjord. As while it is pos­si­ble  — and a num­ber of tours offer it – to see Mil­ford Sound in a day trip from Queen­stown or Te Anau you’ll find your time lim­it­ed and the expe­ri­ence rushed, as well as guar­an­tee­ing that you’ll miss out on an least three of the high­lights of Mil­ford Sound – the sun­rise, sun­set and the star­ry night skies – which is when the Fjord tru­ly comes alive – so if pos­si­ble we’d real­ly encour­age you to bud­get at least two days at Mil­ford Sound to enjoy the absolute best of this incred­i­ble won­der.  

Along­side dri­ving to Mil­ford Sound, trav­el­ers can also vis­it the incred­i­ble Fjord on a scenic flight from either Te Anau or Queen­stown – with the flight, which takes place on a sin­gle engine plane – also giv­ing breath-tak­ing bird­s­eye views of the Eglin­ton Val­ley and the incred­i­ble snow-capped moun­tains, before cir­cum­nav­i­gat­ing Mil­ford Sound for an incred­i­ble up close expe­ri­ence of the beau­ti­ful Fjord before land­ing at a small airstrip with­in the Fjord to allow explor­ers to begin their jour­ney explor­ing Mil­ford Sound from the ground lev­el – with the scenic flight to reach Mil­ford Sound being a once in a life­time expe­ri­ence to reach the incred­i­ble won­der and afford­ing a stun­ning view over this serene and mag­nif­i­cent Fjord.  

Getting Around: 

Hav­ing got your­self to Mil­ford Sound you’ll want to ensure you get the best pos­si­ble expe­ri­ence of the Fjord and ful­ly explore it by tak­ing on a mul­ti­ple expe­di­tions across the Fjord.  

Cruise: First­ly the most com­mon and pop­u­lar way to explore Mil­ford Sound is on a cruise across the serene waters – which will guar­an­tee that you get to explore all the icon­ic high­lights – includ­ing Mitre Peak, Seal Rock and the mighty Lady Bowen and Stir­ling Falls as well as incred­i­ble views out over the val­ley of the Fjord. Afford­able and both eas­i­ly booked in advance or avail­able on the day dur­ing the qui­et sea­son, a cruise lasts for between 2–4 hours and will be run by both a skip­per who will ensure you take the eas­i­est and calmest route and a guide – who will point out the high­lights of the Fjord and delve into the his­to­ry of this incred­i­ble won­der – as well as point­ing out and spot­ting the wildlife of Mil­ford Sound includ­ing seals, pen­guins and even dol­phins.  

A great way to snap the icon­ic pho­tos of Mil­ford Sound, cruis­es of Mil­ford Sound depart from the Mil­ford Sound Jet­ty – and will run what­ev­er the weath­er – with those who hap­pened upon a cruise dur­ing the rain like­ly to get a lit­tle wet – but guar­an­teed to expe­ri­ence Mil­ford Sound at its absolute best and scenic – with the rain­storms help­ing the water­falls and peaks to come alive cre­at­ing a tru­ly spir­i­tu­al and shin­ing expe­ri­ence across the whole of the Fjord.  

Best under­tak­en at either sun­rise or sun­set for incred­i­ble views when the shin­ing sun lights up Mil­ford Sound in an array of bright orange, yel­low and pur­ple rays, for those who want a tru­ly spe­cial expe­ri­ence we’d also advise con­sid­er­ing an overnight cruise on the Fjord – where you get the chance to sleep on a docked boat in the mid­dle of Mil­ford Sound for tru­ly incred­i­ble views of the stars above you, with the views of the con­stel­la­tions, plan­ets and even the Milky Way being amongst some of the best of the plan­et at night in Mil­ford Sound – for a tru­ly mag­i­cal expe­ri­ence.  

Hik­ing: Along­side tak­ing a cruise on Mil­ford Sound, you’ll find some incred­i­ble hik­ing treks along the Fjord that allow you to not only explore the beau­ty of Mil­ford Sound but hike to incred­i­ble van­tage points to snap mem­o­rable pho­tos over this incred­i­ble won­der.  

Start­ing from the well named Mil­ford Sound Look­out hike and the Mil­ford Fore­shore walk – two easy 400 metre hikes that offer stun­ning views and grow­ing in length to include the Lake Gunn Hike (1.4km) and Lake Mar­i­an Hike (3.3km) two stun­ning hikes that offer incred­i­ble views over two Alpine emer­ald lakes to one of the most stun­ning and scenic hikes on the plan­et in the one-day and four-day Mil­ford trek – a stun­ning adven­ture that sees you tra­verse rivers, walk along­side deep glacial val­leys and snow capped peaks and pass the infa­mous Mack­in­non pass – the Mil­ford Trek rep­re­sents not just the best of Mil­ford Sound but one of the most incred­i­ble hikes on the plan­et – and we’d real­ly rec­om­mend under­tak­ing it when vis­it­ing Mil­ford Sound.  

Final­ly as well as explor­ing Mil­ford Sound by cruise and tak­ing on one of the incred­i­ble hikes, we’d also rec­om­mend tak­ing on a Kayak adven­ture across the Fjord – for an up close and inti­mate look at some of the icons and beau­ty of Mil­ford Sound. Eas­i­ly hire­able from a series of Kayak rental shops that dot the shores of Mil­ford Sound, kayak­ing on the serene waters of Mil­ford Sounds is both peace­ful, tran­quil and an adven­ture as you head up to and through the cas­cad­ing water­falls around the sound, take an up close look at Mitre Peak and even head towards Seal rock – where both dol­phins and seals will accom­pa­ny you on your jour­ney across the Fjord – just be sure to keep an eye on the seals as they have been known to both board and com­man­deer kayaks for their own free jour­ney and sight see­ing tour across the won­der of Mil­ford Sound.   

Best time to Visit: 

Spec­tac­u­lar year round – there is no bad time to vis­it the won­der of Mil­ford Sound. How­ev­er, for those set on a tru­ly mag­i­cal expe­ri­ence, hunt­ing the absolute best pho­tos and of course tak­ing on the stun­ning Mil­ford trek at this stun­ning Fjord you’ll find the sea­sons of late Spring (Octo­ber) and ear­ly Autumn (April) the best time to vis­it.  

Along with the advan­tages of being the qui­eter sea­sons com­pared to sum­mer (Decem­ber – March) so giv­ing you reduced crowds, the months of Octo­ber and April are known for being amongst the least wet at Mil­ford Sound – but still hav­ing the daz­zling effects the pre­vi­ous months rain – giv­ing you a hope­ful­ly dry but still daz­zling trip to the Sound.  

Avoid­ing the win­ter road clo­sures found in June and July – the months of April and Octo­ber are also among the peak day­light hours at the Fjord – par­tic­u­lar­ly in the spring, which makes it per­fect for giv­ing your­self the most amount of time on the treks around Mil­ford – par­tic­u­lar­ly the Mil­ford Trek which is com­mon­ly open between Octo­ber – April and where trav­ellers tak­ing on this once in a life­time trek can not only enjoy not the fresh­ness and bloom­ing life of the incred­i­ble nature and scenery on the Trek but also enjoy the Mil­ford Trek in rel­a­tive soli­tude before the hik­ers in the sum­mer months arrive.  

A tru­ly mag­i­cal won­der of the world, Mil­ford Sound is spec­tac­u­lar in any weath­er and sea­son – but for those look­ing for an extra spe­cial expe­ri­ence, we’d real­ly encour­age you to vis­it in either April or Octo­ber when Mil­ford Sound is at its absolute best. 

How long to stay:

Incred­i­bly acces­si­ble – and afford­able – Mil­ford Sound has devel­oped a rep­u­ta­tion – and is often adver­tised as one of the best day trips in the world – with one day tours which run out of Queen­stown being fre­quent­ly adver­tised and read­i­ly avail­able – either by self-dri­ve, self-bus jour­ney or through a tour com­pa­ny — mak­ing for a great option for those short on time and bud­get who want to taste the won­der of Mil­ford Sound.  

Yet, while you can expect such day tours to include a cruise around the Fjord, a stop at Mir­ror lakes and afford time to take on a small walk at the fore­shore, for a real and full expe­ri­ence at Mil­ford Sound we’d rec­om­mend stay­ing at least for 2 – days and self-dri­ving along the Mil­ford Sound high­way if pos­si­ble. With the dri­ve along the high­way afford­ing you increi­d­ble views of some of the best of the sound – and your expe­ri­ence only being enhanced when you reach Mil­ford Sound with plen­ty of time to take on a cruise, kayak and take on either the Mil­ford day trek or some of the incred­i­ble day treks around the Fjord – to expe­ri­ence and explore Mil­ford Sound from all angles.  

Fur­ther the best part about stay­ing overnight at Mil­ford Sound – either camp­ing or in the increi­d­ble Mil­ford lodge – is undoubt­ed­ly the sur­re­al expe­ri­ence of wit­ness­ing both a stun­ning sun­rise and sun­set – where the daz­zling New Zealand sun lights up the Fjord before you for awe-inspir­ing views and some of the best pho­tog­ra­phy oppor­tu­ni­ties on the plan­et – and the chance to view some of the clear­est views of the night stars, plan­ets, con­stel­la­tions and even the milky way all of which bask and reflect above the sheer beau­ty of Mil­ford Sound for what is the defin­i­tive and ulti­mate expe­ri­ence at this increi­d­ble won­der.  

For those want­i­ng to go a lit­tle fur­ther, we’d rec­om­mend set­ting aside 6 days to not only explore Mil­ford Sound at its best but take on the epic hike – and one of the world’s best – of the Mil­ford Trek. A tru­ly stun­ning adven­ture that leads you some of the best scenery on the plan­et, the Mil­ford Trek is a four-day hike which sees you tra­verse rick­ety bridges, cross rolling rivers, come face to face with the mighty Suther­land falls and con­quer the Mack­in­non pass for a true adven­ture and a chance to explore all that Mil­ford Sound has to offer.  

A mag­i­cal won­der – and while it is explorable in a day – as a min­i­mum and to expe­ri­ence the best of Mil­ford sound we’d rec­om­mend stay­ing for at least one night and then extend­ing your stay based on the walks and activ­i­ties you wish to under­take to explore the incred­i­ble won­der of the world of Mil­ford Sound.  

Top Tip:

A true won­der­land, the beau­ty of Mil­ford Sound is both awe-inspir­ing and spir­i­tu­al, with the peace­ful waters of the Fjord backed by the tow­er­ing icons of Mil­ford, includ­ing the mighty Mitre peak, the cas­cad­ing Bowen and ster­ling falls, the lush green forestry and of course the curi­ous wildlife – includ­ing pen­guins, seals and dol­phins com­ing togeth­er to make this eas­i­ly acces­si­ble Fjord a true won­der of the world.  

Yet a trip to Mil­ford Sound should also be well planned and thought out ahead to time – par­tic­u­lar­ly for those tak­ing on any of the treks – and espe­cial­ly the won­der­ful four-day Mil­ford Trek, which while stun­ning will also push explor­ers to their lim­it and can be filled with dan­ger.  

So to ensure explor­ers get the absolute best out of their jour­ney to this incred­i­ble won­der, we’ve round­ed out our top tips and rec­om­men­da­tions for those vis­it­ing Mil­ford Sound to ensure your adven­ture to this true par­adise is as enjoy­able and spir­i­tu­al pos­si­ble: 

Dura­tion of Trip: First up while Mil­ford Sound is acces­si­ble – and mar­ket­ed as – an incred­i­ble day trip from Queen­stown, with one day trips to this won­der which typ­i­cal­ly include a cruise, a chance to take on one of the short­er walk­ing routes and a stop at mir­ror lakes – to real­ly and tru­ly immerse your­self in the beau­ty of Mil­ford Sound, we’d rec­om­mend as a min­i­mum ensur­ing you spend at least one night in this stun­ning won­der.  

Not only will this give you more time to enjoy and explore Mil­ford Sound – includ­ing tak­ing a Kayak out over the Fjord to explore the incred­i­ble water­falls and get­ting up close and per­son­al to Mil­ford Sounds wildlife – but will give you an oppor­tu­ni­ty to take on one of the extend­ed Hikes – includ­ing the one day or four-day Mil­ford Trek, which is tru­ly stun­ning. But best of all an overnight stay at Mil­ford Sound will give you a chance to wit­ness sun­rise, sun­set and give you clear views of the night-time stars, con­stel­la­tions and even the Milky Way – for what is a tru­ly awe-inspir­ing expe­ri­ence – and gives you a chance to snap tru­ly incred­i­ble pho­tos of this stun­ning won­der.  

Trav­el Time – As well as ensur­ing you bud­get for at least one night at Mil­ford Sound to wit­ness the incred­i­ble twi­light at the Fjord, we’d also advise bud­get­ing a bit more trav­el time for those self-dri­ving to the won­der. While you’ll see signs and GPS say­ing to bud­get 4 hours from Queen­stown or 2 from Te Anu – owing to the sim­ply stun­ning look­outs, lakes and val­leys you’ll pass through on the Mil­ford High­way there’s no doubt your trav­el time will be extend­ed. These incred­i­ble stops are also com­bined with poten­tial­ly chal­leng­ing road con­di­tions – espe­cial­ly for those head­ing to Mil­ford Sound in the win­ter months – with Avalanche and slip­pery road warn­ing known to be com­mon across the Mil­ford high­way. For these rea­sons we encour­age you to bud­get a lit­tle more time when mak­ing your approach to Mil­ford sound.  

The Weath­er – One of the wettest inhab­it­ed places on the world, Mil­ford Sound see’s rain 50% of the time, with the fre­quent rain­fall – a con­se­quence of the Fjords unique posi­tion on the South Island of New Zealand undoubt­ed­ly adding to its sheer beau­ty – with the water­falls, tran­quil waters and reflec­tive peaks all daz­zling as a con­se­quence of the con­stant down­pour.  

Yet while the rain undoubt­ed­ly enhances the beau­ty of Mil­ford Sound – it also means that explor­ers need to come pre­pared for the wet con­di­tions – first­ly by hav­ing sol­id insect repel­lent to ward off the con­stant sand flies that swarm around the peaks and the hikes at Mil­ford. Sec­ond­ly and most impor­tant­ly it means that trav­ellers should come pre­pared with wet weath­er clothes and an umbrel­la regard­less of the sea­son they vis­it the Fjord in. These wet weath­er clothes should con­sist of a sol­id anorak, wet weath­er shoes and socks and at least one warm jumper and water­proof coat – with the expe­ri­ence of get­ting wet at the Fjord almost guar­an­teed as you explore this incred­i­ble won­der.  

The Wilder­ness – Part of the unique charm – and rea­son for the pre­served beau­ty of Mil­ford Sound – is undoubt­ed­ly the lack of com­mer­cial­i­sa­tion and devel­op­ment that sur­rounds the Fjord – ensur­ing its nat­ur­al beau­ty will always be main­tained. As a result, you’ll find no hotels or fast-food restau­rants and only one camp­ing ground, a vis­i­tor cen­tre and two small restau­rants at Mil­ford Sound and in the sur­round­ing town. You’ll also found a lack of cell phone ser­vice, so for those head­ing to the Fjord – and par­tic­u­lar­ly for those tak­ing on one of the chal­leng­ing treks, it’s essen­tial that you come pre­pared with a way to con­tact the out­side world in case of emer­gen­cies. 

Cou­pled with this we would also encour­age you to come with plen­ty of snacks for Mil­ford Sound in case the restau­rants aren’t oper­at­ing and come with a plan for sleep­ing — whether that be in a lodge or a camp­ing ground – not­ing that rain is like­ly and that the win­ters at Mil­ford Sound can get incred­i­bly cold.  

The Mil­ford Trek – For those tak­ing on the four-day Mil­ford Trek it’s also essen­tial that you come pre­pared with full knowl­edge of the route and the logis­tics before embark­ing upon this icon trek: 

• First­ly you can only walk the Trek one –way, but it’s essen­tial that in order to do you book huts well in advance – which will come in at $330 NZD to do so. Camp­ing on the trek is not per­mit­ted nor is step­ping upon it with hut reser­va­tions – so for those want­i­ng to take on the trek undoubt­ed­ly the first port of call is to ensure you have a hut reser­va­tion – with the huts them­selves offer­ing good cook­ing facil­i­tates, toi­lets and a warm fire – which is most wel­come at the end of a tough hike.  
  

• Sec­ond­ly – and noth­ing that the trek can only be under­tak­en between Octo­ber and April – it’s essen­tial that trav­ellers come pre­pared for the ever-chang­ing weath­er con­di­tions – ensur­ing that they have clothes suit­able for rain and changes of clothes – includ­ing water­proof tops, clothes and trousers – as well as com­ing with a stur­dy anorak, some water­proof shoes – and plen­ty of insect repel­lant. 
  

• Third­ly we’d advise mak­ing sure you time your depar­ture to and from the Mil­ford Trek to coin­cide with the boats that can drop you off at the start and end point of the trail. With the first boat – which leaves from Te Anau Downs depart­ing at 7am and the last boat from the fin­ish line at Sand­fly Point leav­ing at dusk – around 6pm. With the boats – which are not manda­to­ry – mak­ing the expe­ri­ence on the Mil­ford Trek much more enjoy­able and relax­ing and ensur­ing you’re on the right track as you under­take the trek.
  

• Final­ly, do be advised that you’ll find both a lack of sup­plies and cell phone recep­tion on the Mil­ford Trek. So we’d first­ly advise com­ing pre­pared with plen­ty of snacks and food as well to ensure you have enough nutri­tion and sus­te­nance to pow­er you through the trail – and con­sid­er invest­ing and brin­ing a satel­lite phone in case of seri­ous or med­ical emer­gen­cies. With these two essen­tials ensur­ing that your jour­ney and trek along the Mil­ford Trek will be as safe and enjoy­able as pos­si­ble.  

Cost:  

A majes­tic won­der, Mil­ford Sound also caters for explor­ers on any bud­get – with there being a range of afford­able and more expen­sive options to explore the incred­i­ble Fjord – with both the ease of acces­si­bil­i­ty and afford­abil­i­ty of Mil­ford Sound adding to both the enjoy­ment and over­all expe­ri­ence at this incred­i­ble won­der.  

Hav­ing first­ly got your­self to the South Island of New Zealand – either by fly­ing direct­ly into Christchurch or Queen­stown or by road trip from the North Island jour­ney­ing across the cook strait to reach the shores of the South Island – the best place to base your­self for a trip to Mil­ford Sound is in the adven­ture town of Queen­stown – where you’ll find incred­i­ble scenic lakes, bungee jump galore and some of the best of New Zealand cook­ing.  

From Queen­stown – where you should bud­get around $50 NZD for a room for a night – you then have the three main options of reach­ing Mil­ford Sound – by self-dri­ve, by bus or coach tour or by scenic flight. For those tak­ing on the self-dri­ve along the Mil­ford High­way – which is our rec­om­men­da­tion to get to Mil­ford Sound as you trav­el along one of the most scenic high­ways in the world – we’d advise you to bud­get $80 NZD a day for care hire, petrol and some road snacks. For those on tak­ing on a bus direct to the Fjord expect to pay around $60 NZD one way – with the bus that takes around 6 hours to get to the Fjord being ful­ly air-con­di­tioned reli­able and safe – and depend­ing on the bus you take tak­ing you through the high­lights and stops along the Mil­ford High­way.  

Short Time Scale: For those on a short time scale – and who only have the bud­get for a one day trip to Mil­ford Sound – then a day tour to Mil­ford Sound from Queen­stown is like­ly to be the best option – and you’ll find prices for these trip com­ing in at between $110 — $220 NZD – which will include see­ing all the high­lights and should include a cruise on the waters of Mil­ford Sound – for what will unde­ni­ably be one of the great­est day trips of your life.  

For those with a lit­tle bit more mon­ey to spend and who fan­cy a true buck­et list expe­ri­ence to get to Mil­ford Sound – which will see you soar above snow-capped moun­tains and the Eglin­ton val­ley before cir­cum­nav­i­gat­ing Mil­ford Sound allow­ing you to take in sweep­ing views of this incred­i­ble won­der of the world and it’s full beau­ty from above, then a scenic flight ride from Queen­stown to Mil­ford Sound is an incred­i­ble way to get to the Fjord, and you can expect prices for a flight to come in at  $345 NZD and increase to $400 — $450 NZD for those who get dropped off at the Fjord.  

Once at Mil­ford Sound you’ll find a range of ways to explore the Fjord – both free and com­ing at a price. First up is the icon­ic way to explore Mil­ford Sound on a cruise across the tran­quil waters – that see’s you come face to face with the icons of Mil­ford Sound includ­ing cas­cad­ing water­falls, the mighty Mitre Peak and even curi­ous wildlife includ­ing pen­guins, seals and dol­phins. Undoubt­ed­ly the best way to see Mil­ford Sounds cruis­es start from as low as $45 NZD and increase in price towards $100NZD for those tak­ing on a cruise at peak times. Addi­tion­al­ly for those who want a tru­ly mem­o­rable expe­ri­ence – and get the incred­i­ble sun­rise, sun­set and night time con­stel­la­tions over Mil­ford Sound on an overnight cruise on the serene and calm waters of Mil­ford Sound you can expect this 1 night cruise to start from $250 NZD – but be sure to book in advance, check avail­abil­i­ty – and check the weath­er fore­cast to give your­self the best pos­si­ble chance of avoid­ing the rain on what is guar­an­teed to be an incred­i­ble expe­ri­ence.  

Along­side tak­ing on a cruise we’d real­ly rec­om­mend tak­ing at least an hour or two out of your day and hir­ing a kayak to explore Mil­ford Sound at your own pace and up close, with a Kayak on the main Fjord giv­ing you a chance to get close to and even pass through the water­falls of Mil­ford Sound, as well as get panoram­ic shots of the peaks of Mil­ford – and even get up close to the wildlife of the Fjord – for a tru­ly great expe­ri­ence on this incred­i­ble won­der. For rent­ing a kayak you’ll find plen­ty of shops on the fore­shore of the sound – and expect rental prices to start from $30NZD and ris­ing to $120 NZD for a full day kayak tour on the sound.  

For those on a bud­get then undoubt­ed­ly the best way to explore Mil­ford Sound will be on foot – and you’ll find a series of incred­i­ble hik­ing trails around Mil­ford Sound – almost all of which are free, with the Mil­ford Sound Fore­shore hike, the look-out track and the Key Sum­mit track all being amongst the incred­i­ble free hikes that can give you tru­ly stun­ning views out over Mil­ford Sound and rep­re­sent a great way to see and explore this won­der at no cost. 

Mil­ford Trek: For those want­i­ng to take on the mighty Mil­ford Track – one of the great­est hikes on the plan­et, you have two options – the first is the free one-day Mil­ford day track for a taste of this incred­i­ble hike and which gives you incred­i­ble views of Alpine Lakes, snow-capped peaks and the best of the Fjord below. With the sec­ond being the full four-day trek – which is free to trek and will see you have to spend $110 NZD per per­son a night for each hut a night ($330 NZD in total) which you’ll have to be sure to book online before­hand. You’ll also need to be sure to bud­get for sup­plies for the Mil­ford Trek – includ­ing dai­ly food, wet weath­er gear and camp­ing sup­plies – so be sure to bud­get at least $50 NZD a day on the Trek.  

For those still oper­at­ing on a bud­get and want­i­ng to get the most out of their mon­ey, it’s worth con­sid­er­ing camp­ing at Mil­ford Sound to save mon­ey on accom­mo­da­tion in the big cities – and you can find camp­ing accom­mo­da­tion – that needs to be booked in advance – for as lit­tle as $15NZD a night at Mil­ford Sound. Be sure also to time your trip to the Sound to coin­cide with the off sea­son between May – Sep­tem­ber to get bet­ter rates on cruis­es and bus fares – with those ven­tur­ing to the won­der dur­ing this peri­od able to poten­tial­ly half the cost of their trip.  

There­fore, putting aside the cost of fly­ing into Queen­stown, a trip to Mil­ford Sound and ful­ly explored can be achieved for as lit­tle as $150 NZD –  con­sid­er­ing a one day trip and pay­ing for cost there and a meal or two – but we’d real­ly encour­age you to bud­get at least $400 NZD for a trip to Mil­ford Sound to expe­ri­ence the best of what this won­der has to offer, and even increase that bud­get to $600 NZD if tak­ing on an overnight cruise and up to $1000NZD for those tak­ing on the incred­i­ble Mil­ford Trek – mak­ing Mil­ford Sound an incred­i­bly afford­able won­der and one that can fit with­in every bud­get.   

Fun Fact: 

Along­side being unfor­tu­nate­ly named – as Mil­ford Sound is actu­al­ly a Fjord not a Sound – with a sound clas­si­fied as a large ocean and Mil­ford Sound falling short of these require­ments. Yet despite this nam­ing, the beau­ty of Mil­ford Sound is tru­ly unde­ni­able, and this is in no part thanks to the incred­i­ble rain that the sur­round­ing area receives – with it esti­mat­ed to rain on 182 days of the year at Mil­ford Sound – which helps keep the con­stant water­falls flow­ing and makes Mil­ford Sound one of the wettest inhab­it­ed places on the plan­et.  

Yet Mil­ford Sound is inhab­it­ed – with the town­ship that lacks cell ser­vice, major food out­lets and infra­struc­ture being home to rough­ly 130 peo­ple – who are for­tu­nate enough to live in one of the most scenic and spe­cial places on the plan­et – but who do have to accept that more than a mil­lion peo­ple annu­al­ly will pass through their town to vis­it the won­der of Mil­ford Sound.  

 Top Sights & Best photo spots: 

One of the most serene and beau­ti­ful nat­ur­al won­ders in the world and rep­re­sent­ing the absolute best of New Zealand, the tran­quil beau­ty of Mil­ford Sound lends itself not only to a mag­i­cal and spir­i­tu­al expe­ri­ence but some of the great­est pho­tog­ra­phy oppor­tu­ni­ties on the plan­et. With this stun­ning nat­ur­al par­adise offer­ing immense views and shots of tow­er­ing peaks, cas­cad­ing water­falls, curi­ous wildlife and sparkling lakes, all set against a back­drop of some of the world’s great­est deep Fjord waters and val­leys – for a tru­ly unri­valled pho­tog­ra­phy expe­ri­ence.  

Offer­ing tru­ly mem­o­rable snaps – Mil­ford Sounds deep rep­u­ta­tion for a being a wet par­adise – with its unique loca­tion in the Te Wai­pouna­mu part of the South Island of New Zealand see­ing the Fjord get 182 days of rain a year – enhances the pho­tog­ra­phy expe­ri­ence at this incred­i­ble Fjord, with the wet weath­er bring­ing to life the serene scenery and cre­at­ing a mys­te­ri­ous and reflec­tive atmos­phere that tru­ly allows the best of this incred­i­ble won­der to both shine and be cap­tured.  

A chance to cap­ture true wilder­ness owing to the lack of com­mer­cial­i­sa­tion around the Fjord, Mil­ford Sound is par­tic­u­lar­ly pho­to­genic at ear­ly morn­ing and dusk and for those want­i­ng a tru­ly spe­cial shot and access to the best view­points we’d encour­age you to make sure you snap the clas­sic Mil­ford Sound shot from the fore­shore and then both head into the Fjord by Kayak or Boat or take on the stun­ning Mil­ford Track hike for up close and tru­ly mag­i­cal snaps of the Fjord.  

Yet, while there’s no doubt that Mil­ford Sound encom­pass­es all the won­der of Kipling’s lore and is a tru­ly spe­cial place for any pho­tog­ra­ph­er, owing to the size of this incred­i­ble won­der and the ever-chang­ing weath­er con­di­tions that face pho­tog­ra­phers, it can be chal­leng­ing to ensure you get the absolute best shots in the top loca­tions across Mil­ford Sound. So, to ensure any explor­er gets the absolute best shots and mem­o­ries from this incred­i­ble won­der we’ve round­ed out our favourite Mil­ford Sound pho­to spots: 

Mirror Lakes 

Sim­ply mag­i­cal – the reflec­tive Mir­ror Lakes offer one of the tru­ly great pho­tos of Mil­ford Sound – with the eas­i­ly accessed Lakes, found just off the Mil­ford road, offer­ing incred­i­bly scenic views out over the fjord and lush green forestry of the Eglin­ton Val­ley while backed by the tow­er­ing snow capped peaks of the Earl Val­ley – mak­ing for one of the great views and pho­to oppor­tu­ni­ties across Mil­ford Sound.  

Even bet­ter though is the view on a calm and clear day, where you’ll find the Mir­ror Lakes cre­ate a tran­quil reflec­tion of the nat­ur­al par­adise laid out before, giv­ing the oppor­tu­ni­ty for an incred­i­ble mirage pho­to of the beau­ty of the won­der of Mil­ford sound reflect­ed in the tran­quil clear waters of Mir­ror Lakes. A pop­u­lar pho­to spot – par­tic­u­lar­ly in the high sea­son – we’d advise com­ing at sun­rise to get best the both shots with the ear­ly morn­ing sun reflect­ing on the lake and for the chances of min­i­mal crowds – with the Mir­ror Lakes being one of the most incred­i­ble pho­to spots to cap­ture the full beau­ty of the won­der of Mil­ford Sound.  

Bowen Falls 

The tallest per­ma­nent water­fall across Mil­ford Sound – with the cas­cad­ing clear water plung­ing 162 metres down from the peak into the serene reflec­tive green waters of the Fjord below – Bowen Falls is sim­ply mag­i­cal, with the falls set against a back­drop of snow-capped moun­tains and along­side lush bright green forestry mak­ing these spec­tac­u­lar falls one of the most scenic and pho­to­genic falls on the plan­et.  

Tru­ly breath-tak­ing, Bowen Falls is not just a pret­ty water­fall but also serves a vital­ly impor­tant pur­pose, serv­ing as a hydro­elec­tric­i­ty gen­er­a­tor to sup­ply the near­by Mil­ford Sound town. Yet there’s no doubt its main attrac­tion is its sheer beaty – and for the best shots we’d advise either tak­ing a sun­rise cruise to the Bowen falls – where you’ll get the mag­i­cal first light reflect­ing off both the fjord waters below and the falls them­selves or take on the 30 minute Bowen Falls trek that will lead you to an incred­i­ble look­out from where you can cap­ture the full pow­er and beau­ty of the mag­ic of Bowen Falls.  

Stirling Falls 

Cas­cad­ing more than 150 metres down, Stir­ling Falls stands as one of the most beau­ti­ful and pow­er­ful water­falls across all of Mil­ford Sound, with Stir­ling Falls – which stands as the sec­ond per­ma­nent falls across Mil­ford Sound – bought to life not just by the beau­ti­ful water crash­ing into the serene waters below but by its back­ing of lush green forestry and tow­er­ing snow-capped moun­tains – mak­ing it one of the most pho­to­genic water­falls on the plan­et.  

The sec­ond tallest water­fall across Mil­ford Sound – but still clock­ing in at a might 151 metres – three times the height of the won­der of Nia­gra Falls –Stir­ling Falls is one of the star attrac­tions of Mil­ford Sound hav­ing fea­tured as oth­er world­ly scenery in many Hol­ly­wood films and even play­ing a star­ring role in one of the X‑men films. Yet for those set on pho­tograph­ing this incred­i­ble water­fall and with­out super­pow­ers – you’ll find the only way to grab a tru­ly great shot of the full beau­ty of Stir­ling Falls against its stun­ning back­drop is to take on either a boat cruise or explore the area by Kayak – with both options guar­an­teed to see you not only get soaked by the immense pow­er of Stir­ling Falls but give you the best chance to snap incred­i­ble pho­tos of the immense Stir­ling Falls.  

Seal Rock 

The one sight in Mil­ford Sound that you may hear before you see – the ever active Seal rock is the home – and hang­out – of colonies of New Zealand Fur Seals, with the rock being par­tic­u­lar­ly pop­u­lar amongst pups and ado­les­cent seals who take advan­tage of the pro­trud­ing rock to take a break from the waters of Mil­ford Sound and bask in the sun­light, with the Fur Seals known to be more than hap­py to put on a show for pass­ing boats and tourists – and offer­ing one of the great spots to view and pho­to­graph some of the charm­ing wildlife of Mil­ford Sound.  

Best explored on a cruise – as the seals have been known to com­man­der kayaks from trav­ellers caus­ing inci­dents — Seal Rock has gained a rep­u­ta­tion as being so reli­able for spot­ting fur seals as it’s one of the few places across Mil­ford Sound where a large rock both pro­trudes from the waters of Mil­ford Sound that isn’t close to a water­fall or cov­ered in forestry – mak­ing it a favourite hang out for seals and an incred­i­ble pho­to oppor­tu­ni­ty to cap­ture rare and beau­ti­ful wildlife against the back­drop of the stun­ning Mil­ford Sound.  

Mitre Peak 

Undoubt­ed­ly the icon of Mil­ford Sound, the tow­er­ing Mitre Peak stands 1692 metres as the focal point of Mil­ford Sound, with this immense peak – shaped as almost a per­fect tri­an­gle being not only the sym­bol of Mil­ford Sound but with it’s unique posi­tion at the cen­tre of the Fjord sur­round­ed by lush green forestry, snow capped moun­tains and calm dark peace­ful waters, Mitre Peak makes for a sim­ply stun­ning pho­to and one of the undoubt­ed snaps that every explor­er vis­it­ing Mil­ford Sound should have. 

Eas­i­ly explored and reached on a cruise – and equal­ly pho­to­genic and reached by Kayak or by attempt­ing to sum­mit the peak – the beau­ty of Mitre Peak is sim­ply stun­ning, so much so that it has become New Zealand’s most pho­tographed moun­tain, eclips­ing the 3,724 snow-capped peak of Mount Cook – and we’d advise any­one seek­ing the per­fect shot of Mitre Peak against the back­ground of the sparkling Fjord to either wake up ear­ly and get them­selves on a sun­rise cruise or take on an overnight cruise or spend the night at Mil­ford Lodge – both of which will give you an incred­i­ble oppor­tu­ni­ty to snap Mil­ford Sound at sun­set when this icon­ic peak comes alive for a tru­ly spe­cial pho­to.  

Milford Sound Lodge at Night 

As well as being one of our picks to cap­ture full scale and incred­i­ble pho­tos of Mitre Peak – the views from the Mil­ford Sound lodge – which is found deep with­in the Fjord­land are stun­ning in their own right, but are extra spe­cial at dusk and into the night – with the stargaz­ing and night-time pho­tog­ra­phy – and the oppor­tu­ni­ty to cap­ture full con­stel­la­tions and even plan­ets — on offer here being amongst the best in the world. 

Owing so much of its mag­i­cal night-time pho­tog­ra­phy oppor­tu­ni­ties to the lack of com­mer­cial­i­sa­tion and indus­tri­al­i­sa­tion around Mil­ford Sound – the views from the panoram­ic and see-though view­ing plat­form of the lodge are both crys­tal clear and spir­i­tu­al – and we’d advise to bring a cam­era capa­ble of cap­tur­ing night time shots as you stargaze in the beau­ti­ful Mil­ford Sound val­ley and gaze upon con­stel­la­tions, plan­ets and Milky way for a sim­ply awe-inspir­ing stargaz­ing and pho­tog­ra­phy expe­ri­ence.  

Lake Marian 

One of the most serene and beau­ti­ful lakes on the plan­et, the Mil­ford Sound Lake Mar­i­an offers sim­ply incred­i­ble views, with the lake itself – which is reached on a three hour trek that takes you through the Mar­i­an Val­ley and across a rick­ety swing bridge being well worth the trek to take in and pho­to­graph the stun­ning alpine crys­tal green waters of the lake set against the Mar­i­an val­leys snow capped moun­tain, rock faces and lush green forestry – for a tru­ly serene and beau­ti­ful set­ting and a mag­i­cal pho­to oppor­tu­ni­ty.  

A pho­to off the beat­en track and one that encom­pass­es the true and rare beau­ty of New Zealand Fjord­land, Lake Mar­i­an is stun­ning at any time of the day – but for extra spe­cial shots we’d advise arriv­ing at sun­rise on a clear day – where you’ll get to see the forestry scenery reflect­ed in the lake itself for a fur­ther spe­cial shot – or if you’re hap­py to risk the hike back in the dark at sun­set – where if you’re lucky you’ll see both the entire lake and the sur­round­ing val­ley light up in shin­ing yel­low, orange or even pur­ple for an oth­er­world­ly and sim­ply breath-tak­ing pho­to­graph.  

Milford Sound Pier:

While cruis­es out into the Fjords offer the chance to pho­to­graph the icons of Mil­ford Sound – and hikes through the val­leys offer an up close and per­son­al expe­ri­ence to the stun­ning nature and waters of this incred­i­ble Fjord, there’s some­thing beau­ti­ful­ly sim­ply about tak­ing in and cap­tur­ing a panoram­ic shot of Mil­ford Sound from its Pier –with the icons of Mil­ford sound laid out before you and cap­ture the ful­ly beau­ty of this incred­i­ble won­der.  

Offer­ing immense views of not only the calm fjord waters, but also the tow­er­ing water­falls and the mighty Mitre Peak the pier of Mil­ford Sound is a tru­ly peace­ful place and along­side enjoy­ing the roman­tic views and watch­ing the boats and tides return to the pier, the Mil­ford Sound pier offers incred­i­bly shots of the whole of Mil­ford Sound at sun­set – where you’ll get to wit­ness the descend­ing sun light­ing up the whole of the Fjord waters before you before dis­ap­pear­ing behind the snow-capped peaks at the edge of the Fjord – for what is a tru­ly incred­i­ble panoram­ic pho­to of the ful­ly beau­ty of Mil­ford Sound.  

Milford Track:

One of the most pho­to­genic hikes in the world – and tak­ing you some of the most incred­i­ble scenery across the whole of the won­der of the world of Mil­ford Sound, the beau­ty on the Mil­ford Track is incom­pa­ra­ble and is undoubt­ed­ly a photographer’s dream. While tak­ing on the one day hike will give you some incred­i­ble, there’s no doubt that those tak­ing on the four-day trek will reward explor­ers with sim­ply mag­i­cal and stun­ning pho­tog­ra­phy oppor­tu­ni­ties – with our rec­om­men­da­tion being to make sure you cap­ture the fol­low­ing five pho­tog­ra­phy high­lights of the Mil­ford Track: 

Clinton River

One of the high­lights of the first day – the Clin­ton Riv­er is a stun­ning intro­duc­to­ry to some incred­i­ble scenery that awaits on the Mil­ford Track, with the crys­tal emer­ald waters of the Clin­ton Riv­er – backed against lush green forestry and val­ley peaks. Tru­ly glis­ten­ing the riv­er itself makes for an incred­i­ble pho­to shot – par­tic­u­lar­ly dur­ing high sun – when the emer­ald waters of the Clin­ton Riv­er shine bright­ly, and you’ll also find one of the most fun pho­to spots across the whole of Mil­ford Sounds at the Clin­ton Riv­er – with a rick­ety wood­en bridge lead­ing you across the riv­er – with a snap of your­self tak­ing on the bridge being one of the great pho­tos across the Mil­ford Track.  

The MacKinnon Pass 

The high­light of the Mil­ford Track – and one of the most chal­leng­ing ele­ments of the track thanks to a series of steep ascents, the scenery on the MacK­in­non trek is sim­ply stun­ning – with the pass lead­ing you along­side glo­ri­ous moun­tain peaks, through lush val­ley fields and across a series of streams and riv­er – all of which offer incred­i­ble pho­to oppor­tu­ni­ties and the absolute best of Mil­ford Sounds nat­ur­al beau­ty. Under­tak­en on the third day of the Mil­ford Trek, we’d advise attempt­ing to time your days on the Mack­in­non Pass to coin­cide with bright weath­er and be up ear­ly for sun­rise – where you can grab a tru­ly breath-tak­ing pho­to of the sun ris­ing over the moun­tain cliffs of the Mack­in­non pass for a stun­ning pho­to.  

Sutherland Falls  

A side-trip off the Mack­in­non Pass – although ful­ly vis­i­ble through the trek on day 3 through the Mil­ford Trek, the incred­i­ble thun­der­ous water­falls of Suther­land Falls are tru­ly astound­ing, with this sparkling water­fall – which is fed by a dia­mond lake 1900 feet above the val­ley floor — set against tru­ly breath-tak­ing scenery includ­ing snow-capped moun­tains and gor­geous, lush val­leys for an undoubt­ed high­light of the Mack­in­non pass. Set close to the won­der of Mil­ford Sound, a series of view­ing plat­forms and board­walks sur­round the base of the falls – and its from these view­ing points – as well as van­tage points across the val­ley – that you can snap tru­ly incred­i­ble pho­tos of this stun­ning and breath-tak­ing colos­sal water­fall. 

Mackay Falls 

Found at the start of day 4, Mack­ay Falls is anoth­er thun­der­ous but sim­ply gor­geous water­fall on the Mil­ford Track. Feed­ing off the con­tact rain­fall that sur­rounds Mil­ford Sound, the Mack­ay falls dif­fer from the Suther­land falls as you’ll be able to approach them at base lev­el – giv­ing the oppor­tu­ni­ty for an incred­i­ble shot as you cap­ture the pic­turesque val­ley floor and water pool which fea­tures an assort­ment of shiny black rocks, and trace the Mack­ay Falls up along the green for­est to the run­ning water­fall to its peak some 82 metres up. A calm and serene water­fall but one that is tru­ly stun­ning the Mack­ay falls offers a reward­ing pho­to shot for explor­ers on the fourth day of their jour­ney and is an undoubt­ed high­light of the incred­i­ble Mil­ford Trek.  

Dumpling Hut Corridor  

Hav­ing spend the third night in Dumpling hut recov­er­ing from the beau­ti­ful but chal­leng­ing Mack­in­non pass, one of the most scenic and beau­ti­ful spots of the Mil­ford Track awaits you – the cor­ri­dor from Dumpling hut, which see’s you cross wood­en bridges and jour­ney through pris­tine for­est, snow-capped moun­tains and along­side rolling rivers in what is one of the most gor­geous pas­sage­ways through forestry any­where in the world. In fact so pho­to­genic and beau­ti­ful is the cor­ri­dor that it fea­tures heav­i­ly in the Lord of the Rings tril­o­gy – the films that bought the nat­ur­al beau­ty of New Zealand to main­stream atten­tion — and you’ll find no short­age of incred­i­ble pho­to oppor­tu­ni­ties on this path, with the cor­ri­dor and path­way after leav­ing the Dumpling hut being tru­ly spe­cial and tru­ly under­lin­ing why the Mil­ford trek is one of the great­est and most pho­to­genic hikes on the plan­et.  

Milford Sound Foreshore: 

Final­ly, the clas­sic, icon­ic and sim­ply must have pho­to that allows explor­ers to cap­ture the absolute best of Mil­ford Sound, the Mil­ford Sound Fore­shore walk is sim­ply stun­ning, tak­ing you on a sim­ple loop walk over sparkling sandy beach­es, through beech for­est to the edge of the Fjords Waters – where the full won­der of Mil­ford Sound sparkles before you – for a tru­ly mem­o­rable shot.  

Eas­i­ly accessed from the vis­i­tor cen­tre, stand­ing on the fore­front of Mil­ford Sound is tru­ly spir­i­tu­al, and before you you’ll find the tow­er­ing Mitre peak, snow-capped moun­tains and serene waters which reflect back the sheer beau­ty of this beau­ti­ful Fjord. Even more incred­i­ble at sun­rise or sun­set – when the daz­zling waters before you light up in light reflec­tive shades of yel­low, orange and even pur­ple – the views from the fore­shore of Mil­ford Sound are tru­ly mag­i­cal and undoubt­ed­ly encap­su­late the best of this stun­ning nat­ur­al beau­ty and tru­ly under­line where the great fjord of Mil­ford Sound is a true won­der of the world.