“Lace up your hiking boots, pack a sandwich and prepare yourself for a hike that, at eight miles, is a beginner in elevation, but an intermediate in length. There are three bridges that cross the raging South Island waters. While you’ll pass beautiful views of the ice-blue Lake Pukaki and snow-topped mountains, it’s not until you’ve crossed all of the bridges and round a curve that you’ll be rewarded with the most enchanting view of Mt. Cook in all of its glory. The full hike leaves you at a glacial lake, the perfect place to break out your packed sandwich and enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature. This hike takes about four hours out and back.” –Collette Stohler, blogger at Roamaroo.com

“[This is] the hike to Laguna de los Tres, and it’s pure heaven once you actually get there! It’s six miles to the lake. The first three kilometers are relatively steep until the trail flattens out; after that there’s four miles with flat terrain and beautiful views of the peaks before you. It’s all fun and games until mile five and a half, where flat plains turn into an uphill battle of about 1,500 feet in elevation gain. But when you finally reach the laguna, you’ll experience one of the best views of Fitz Roy. This hike is 12 miles in all. With the total amount of hiking and time spent at the lake, it took us about eight hours total.” –Lesley Anne Murphy, blogger at TheRoadLesTraveled.com