Hiking the Kea Point Track, Mount Cook National Park

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Last Updated on May 17, 2022 by Jon Algie

Why Hike the Kea Point Track?

The hike along the Kea Point Track (roughly 1 hour return) ends at a viewpoint where you’ll see some of Mt Cook National Park’s most marvellous mountains, including Mount Cook and Mount Sefton. It’s a lot shorter than the more well-known Hooker Valley Track, making it a good option for those on the lower end of the fitness spectrum. You should definitely try and do both though, as they both start from the same car park and offer up very different perspectives of this most spectacular of New Zealand valleys.

Morning mist

We started the hike early in the morning and feared we wouldn’t see much. The weather seems to change very quickly in these parts though, so upon arriving at the end of the track we decided to wait for the sky to clear.

Mist on the Kea Point Track, Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand

A short wait

Within about five minutes of arriving at Kea Point the mist gradually started to fade. It was surreal seeing the mountains slowly reveal themselves. Mount Sefton stripped off first, and then Mt Cook followed suit. We had seen Mount Cook on the Hooker Valley Track hike the previous day but it was still exciting to see the giant once again. Before long there was just a thin layer of mist hovering above the small lake below. There were less than a dozen other people there at the time and it was a really peaceful experience.

The view of Mount Cook from the Kea Point Track, Mount Cook National Park, New ZealandSouthern Alps view from Kea Point, Mount Cook National Park, New ZealandMount Sefton from the Kea Point Track, New Zealand

On the way back we got to see all the scenery that was covered just an hour or so before. This truly is one of New Zealand’s most beautiful areas — I know it’s somewhere we’ll be seeing a lot more of.

Hiking the Kea Point Track, Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand

The Kea Point Track FAQs

  • Where are the kea?? These green parrots, which are native to New Zealand, are regularly spotted in this area. We didn’t see any on the hike but we saw a large group of them in the car park beforehand. They are very entertaining birds — I watched them for about half an hour while they played among themselves and chewed on things they shouldn’t chew on.

Kea near the start of the Kea Point Track, Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand

  • Do you need to hike both the Kea Point Track and the Hooker Valley Track? If you have time, definitely try and do both, as they give you very different views of the same valley. There are also other hikes in the area. Next time we’ll make the journey up to Mueller Hut — it looks amazing!
  • Where to stay in Mt Cook National Park? I wrote about that in a previous post about the Hooker Valley Track, check it out ↓↓↓

READ MORE: Hiking the Hooker Valley Track, Mount Cook National Park

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Jon Algie

I'm a South Island local -- born in Timaru and raised in Dunedin. I left the island in 2006 and returned 10 years later. Having seen a good chunk of the world I realised how special this place is -- the most beautiful island in the world! Seven years (and almost 400 posts) later I'm still helping locals and tourists alike plan their trips around the South Island.
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