White Horse Hill or Glentanner: camping near Aoraki/Mount Cook

Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park is a land of ice and rock in New Zealand's Southern Alps: glaciers cover 40 percent of it, and 19 of its peaks rise above 3,000 m, including Aoraki/Mount Cook, the country's highest mountain. The Tasman Glacier, New Zealand's longest at 23 km, is visible from the road into the park, and the whole area is part of the Te Wāhipounamu World Heritage Area (DOC).

There are two main places to camp. White Horse Hill is the Department of Conservation's simple campsite right at the start of the Hooker Valley Track. Glentanner is a full holiday park 18 km outside the national park, with hot showers, a kitchen and powered sites. Choose White Horse Hill to wake up under the mountains and walk straight onto the trails; choose Glentanner for comfort, power and a longer stay.

White Horse Hill: camp at the trailhead#

White Horse Hill sits at the end of Hooker Valley Road, 2.5 km from Aoraki/Mount Cook Village, on open ground surrounded by mountains. Facilities are simple: treated drinking water, a cooking shelter and basic toilets, but no power and no showers. Hot showers are in the village, where a small alpine settlement has a day shelter with coin-operated showers, a visitor centre, a petrol station and a few places to eat (DOC park page).

The best reason to stay is what starts at the edge of the campsite:

• Hooker Valley Track: about 5 km and 1.5 hours each way to Hooker Lake, at the foot of Aoraki, where icebergs float in summer. It crosses three swing bridges, including a new 189 m bridge over the Hooker River that opened on 28 July 2026 and is the longest suspension bridge in New Zealand (Hooker Valley Track; bridge opening). Toilets are 15 minutes past the second bridge.
• Kea Point Track: about an hour return from the campsite, rising gently through grassland and scrub to a viewpoint on the moraine wall of the Mueller Glacier (Kea Point).
• Sealy Tarns Track: three to four hours return with 600 m of steep climbing, much of it on steps, to small alpine lakes above the valley (Sealy Tarns).

Staying here means you can start the Hooker Valley at first light, ahead of the busiest hours on the track. DOC plans to install a "pause gate" on the first, 47-year-old swing bridge before the 2026/27 summer to keep crossings within its 20-person limit, so expect short waits at busy times (DOC).

Winter is different. From June to August the flush toilets are replaced by pit toilets and there is no running water at the site, so bring enough water storage and refill in the village. Snow can close State Highway 80, the only road in, and winter walkers on the Hooker Valley Track need microspikes and poles for icy sections.

Glentanner: comfort outside the park#

Glentanner Park Centre is a holiday park on a working sheep station, 18 km from the national park, with views of Aoraki and the Southern Alps from native bush. The facilities are everything White Horse Hill lacks (facilities):

• a fully equipped kitchen with ovens, hot plates, microwaves and fridges, plus a dining area, lounge and a barbecue pavilion with a log fire;
• hot showers around the clock, coin laundry (NZ$2 coins) and unlimited Wi-Fi;
• 60 powered campervan sites with 16-amp camper plugs, and drinking water, including a hose for filling vans in winter;
• a reception with visitor information, a café and an activity desk, open 08:00 to 18:00, with instructions left outside for late arrivals.

The trade-off is the 18 km drive each way to the trailheads. Note too that there is no dump station and no grocery shop at Glentanner or in Mount Cook Village; the nearest supermarkets and free dump stations are in Twizel and Lake Tekapo, so stock up and empty tanks before you arrive.

Side by side#

Prices are from the DOC campsite page and Glentanner's non-powered and powered site pages; Glentanner's rates are "from" prices and vary by date.

Booking#

White Horse Hill must be booked: no spaces are kept for campers who arrive without a booking. Online bookings for the same night are possible until 8 pm if space remains, and if you book in person with staff instead there is a NZ$10 service fee. Booked campers park in the campsite area free of the car-park charges that otherwise apply at White Horse Hill (NZ$2.50 per half hour or NZ$25 a day) (DOC campsite; parking).

Glentanner is booked through its accommodation page, where you choose between powered and non-powered sites. Check-in is from 2 pm and check-out by 10 am.

Park rules#

Dogs and other pets are not allowed in the national park, recreational drones are banned, and there is a permanent fire ban. Ngāi Tahu regard the waters flowing from Aoraki as sacred, and leaving any waste, including human waste, in the park is unacceptable to them; use toilets or pack it out (DOC).

Prices, facilities and track information were checked on 8 October 2026.