Alex Knob and Christmas Lookout via Alex Knob Track is a 9.5 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Whataroa, West Coast, New Zealand that features a river and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking, walking, nature trips, and bird watching and is accessible year-round.
Beautiful views along the way. A lot of rocks and roots along the trail which makes it more fun and keeps your mind going, the grade isn’t that bad. It’ll get your blood flowing and the views of the glacier, mountains, and ocean at the top are so worth it! https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/west-coast/places/westland-tai-poutini-national-park/things-to-do/tracks/alex-knob-track/
February 19, 2021Great experience even walking in a rainy season. not much view but excellent trail experience. This is a highly recommended trail for a day walk in Franz Josef.
February 15, 2021
February 5, 2021December 28, 2020great walk, we spend the night up there and it was amazing. go up in a good weather and you don't be sorry for it.
November 20, 2020Excellent... it is raing though
October 6, 2020August 12, 2020中等级别的步道，比Robert’s简单很多，偶尔小泥泞和攀爬，爬到Christmas Lookout用时3个小时(慢速爬升), 在那里可以看到冰川全景。
July 25, 2020Sehr cooler track! Wobei die ersten 1,5 std relativ langweilig sind. Habe 2 1/4 stunden bis zum christmas lookout und 3 std 20 bis zum Gipfel gebraucht (2 std 45 runter). Beim Christmas Lookout und ein bisschen höher hatte ich noch wirklich tolle Ausblicke, 40 min vor dem Gipfel hat es sich dann aber sehr schnell zugezogen und man hat nicht weiter als 50 Meter gesehen. Bin um 9:30 uhr losgelaufen. Die letzten 40 Minuten waren außerdem ziemlich verschneit und es wird sehr kalt am gipfel, wanderschuhe würde ich empfehlen!
July 25, 2020really good walk! took me 1 hrs 30 mins to Arat lookout and 2 hrs 10 mins to Christmas lookout. Quite breathtaking but don't forget your warm clothes even if it's warm down below. It was pretty chilly at Xmas lookout. didn't need special shoes but would recommend hiking shoes! awesome hike!!!
July 19, 2020J'ai pas été fasciné par la vue.... meme au coucher du soleil.... Si il y a des nuages ou du mauvais temps je le deconseil, il n'y aura rien à voir... a faire en balade du dimanche si on est dans le coin. Sinon préférez d'autres trek.
July 18, 2020Absolutely incredible walk through the woods- lots of tree roots to clamber up through. If it’s winter- stop at Christmas look out unless you have proper hiking ice gear!! It’s slippy and very icy further up and not worth it for the views in my opinion -If you’re going up to see the glacier anyway. Other than that an incredible walk- but don’t underestimate it. It’s not easy. We made it most the way up (1km short) in 3 hours and down in the same as it’s very steep. I’d class us as pretty fit, experienced hikers while walking at a decent pace and struggled at points.
June 19, 2020I'm giving it 4 stars for the hike I know it could have been, but for the love of God please do not attempt it on a rainy, cloudy or damp day, which I know is difficult in the Southern Alps. If you have a cloudless day, get your butt up here immediately. Otherwise, skip it. Do not hike it hoping the clouds will go away, you'll be disappointed. It also gets veryyyy slippery at the top so make sure it was relatively ry the day before.
June 9, 2020Absolutely beautiful trail and gorgeous views of the glacier too. Make sure to get there early as the clouds roll in about noon and really obscure the view. I completed this trail yesterday (9/6) and started around 8:30am, spent an hour or so at the top, and then descended. Bit of snow at the top, and I reckon you could continue a bit further, but I didn't have the gear or waterproof shoes. Time up was 2h50m, time down around 2h20 or so at a moderate-slow pace, so not the full 8 hours that the DOC sign suggests.
May 26, 2020Absolutely epic! We had a great weather day, trail is interesting and keeps you on your toes(literally) Mint views are the top and a couple of good lookouts on the way up. Best view of the glacier I’ve ever seen. Better than Roy’s peak in Wanaka!
May 16, 2020Fun day hike! The views of Franz Josef are beyond mind-blowing!
March 10, 2020March 5, 2020Great trail which took us about 3.45h We felt super unlucky as the view steadily deteriorated due to increasing clouds and mist in every direction. At the summit the visibility was down to a few meters, other than that a fun trail!
February 29, 2020Great hike! Very nice track through the forest, climbing over rocks, trees, walking under fallen trees etc. Almost like an obstacle course. Great views from the top on the glacier and surrounding mountains. Don’t do it when it rains, will be very slippery.
February 28, 2020February 27, 2020If you want some shadow and experience walking in a rain forest, Alex Knob is for you. If you want views all way up, chose another one. But the view for the last km is amazing! Best view of Franz Josef for sure! Even if the distance and elevation are high, it goes pretty easy. We are slow walkers and we did it in 6 hours. Only one bug... the helicos! Too bad!
February 22, 2020January 31, 2020I'm giving this 3 stars, partially due to our weather (fog/mist) masking any views we might have seen. If it hadn't been for the weather, I would have given this 4 stars, it was a long hike and pretty much the same from start to finish. 3 hours of steady climbing over rocks through trees. It honestly got pretty monotonous and boring. We clocked this on our garmin at 11.5 miles and did it in 6 hours (not doing much at the top cause there wasn't anything to see due to the clouds).
December 29, 2019
