Stops on the way to Milford Sound from Queenstown

The road from Queenstown to Milford Sound changes character at Te Anau. The first stretch runs south along Lake Wakatipu and through rural Southland to Te Anau, on State Highways 6 and 94.^7,8 Coaches use this stretch for a coffee break and little else: the site's own day tour drives 2.5 hours past the lake to Te Anau and stops there for 30 minutes. The scenery is green farmland with mountains on the horizon.

After Te Anau comes the Milford Road itself. It leaves the lakeside town and runs 120 km north through the national park, ending at the sea.¹ DOC's own guide to the route numbers its stops by distance from Te Anau, and so does this page, because that is how you will read the road: as a string of lakes, valleys, walks and viewpoints, each a few minutes from the next.⁹ The drive can be done in 2 hours, Visit Fiordland says, but that does not mean it should be.¹⁰

Before you leave Te Anau, visit the Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre at 1 Lakefront Drive for track and road updates, and fill the tank.^11,12 Then watch the land change. DOC explains that the road begins on ridges of rock debris left beside the glacier that once filled Lake Te Anau, and that the country east of the mountains sits in a rain shadow, drier than the forest ahead.^13,14 Within the hour you will see that contrast for yourself.

Mirror Lakes is the stop everyone knows. The walk begins about 56 km north of Te Anau and is a 400 m return stroll on a boardwalk.¹⁶ Visit Fiordland describes a wheelchair-accessible boardwalk to a series of small lakes that, on a still day, reflect the Earl Mountains.³³ DOC calls it great for children.³⁴ Early and late in the day are the calmest times; a breeze breaks the mirror quickly.

A little further on, near Deer Flat at 59 km, DOC's brochure notes that somewhere between there and Knobs Flat you cross latitude 45 degrees South, halfway between the equator and the pole.³⁵ Knobs Flat itself is 62 km from Te Anau, with panels on how avalanches affect the road and on the wildlife of the Eglinton Valley.⁵ It has the last flush toilets before Milford Sound and some accommodation.⁵

This valley is a conservation story too. DOC says a predator plague hit the Eglinton Valley between 1999 and 2001, and that it has run intensive pest control there since.³⁶ Numbers of the endangered mohua, or yellowhead, have risen, helped by a transfer of birds from Chalky Island in 2010.³⁷ The traps you may notice beside short walks are part of that work; leave them untouched, and listen for small forest birds in the beech.

Out of the tunnel the road drops in tight bends towards sea level. The Chasm car park is about 109 km from Te Anau, roughly halfway between the tunnel and the fiord.¹⁸ It is a 400 m return walk through forest to the Cleddau River.¹⁹ The viewing bridges were washed away in a storm in February 2020, and DOC reopened the walk on 24 April 2023 as a view from the river's edge only.^67,68 Check DOC's page for the latest on the bridges.

The water is still the show: DOC describes rock sculpted into shapes and basins by the swirling river, and the old bridge foundations show how much force a flood carries. On the final descent, DOC notes, occasional rimu rise above the silver beech, and tree ferns and mosses thicken as the rain increases.⁶⁹ The Tutoko Suspension Bridge, 116 km from Te Anau, was built in 1940 and completed the road into Milford Sound.⁷⁰

Then the valley opens and the road ends at the village. Drivers with a cruise booked should budget an hour from car park to gangway, DOC suggests.⁷¹ Coach tours handle the stops for you, but the order varies with the weather: RealNZ lists possible stops at Mirror Lakes, The Divide and Monkey Creek, and the tour this page recommends names Te Anau, the Eglinton Valley, Mirror Lakes, Lake Gunn and the Hollyford River, with minutes for each.⁷²