A travel guide to Lake Pukaki, the South Island’s most stunning lake
Lake Pukaki is an essential stop on any South Island road trip. Here’s how to weave it into your itinerary; with the best places to stop and stay.
Lake Pukaki — an alpine lake in the South Island of New Zealand.
It’s the kind of place that makes you stop and stare, trying to get your mind to make sense of what your eyes are seeing. It doesn’t seem possible that water can be this blue, cradled in the golden tussock of the Mackenzie basin.
It also seems completely surreal that a road runs nonchalantly past the lake.
Lake Pukaki is one of the most stunning locations in the whole South Island. The lake itself is a vibrant bright blue. It’s even more blue than its famous neighbour Lake Tekapo.
The lake is also positioned at the foot of the Southern Alps. Looking across the pale blue water, you’ll see the peak of Aoraki Mount Cook rising into the sky.
HOW TO VISIT LAKE PUKAKI
Lake Pukaki is two hours and 40 minutes from Queenstown, three and a half hours from Christchurch, and only 30 minutes from Lake Tekapo.
If you plan on driving from Queenstown to Mount Cook or Christchurch, you’ll drive right past it.
The drive along the edge of Lake Pukaki toward Mount Cook is one of the most scenic drives in New Zealand.
You might recognise it — the road winding toward mountains with the bright blue lake on one side is an iconic image of the South Island.
Here are a few itineraries that pass right by Lake Pukaki:
WHERE TO STAY NEAR LAKE PUKAKI
It’s well worth stopping by Lake Pukaki on a road trip from Christchuch to Queenstown, and even spending a night here.
If you like uninterrupted views and getting away from the crowds. I actually recommend stopping for the night at Pukaki instead of in the more developed Lake Tekapo.
One thing to understand about Lake Pukaki is that it’s not a town, or even a village — it’s really just a lake with a few facilities like public toilets on the southern edge.
The nearest town with hotels is Twizel, a 15 minute drive away.
There are a couple of great accommodation options around the edge of Lake Pukaki, as well as more dotted around Twizel.
Lakestone Lodge, on the edge of Lake Pukaki
Lakestone Lodge is the ultimate place to stay near Mount Cook Village, without being in the village itself. From here, you’ll have stunning views across Lake Pukaki to the peak of Aoraki.
High Country Cabin, a stunning rustic place to stay near Twizel
For somewhere truly magical to stay, you can’t really go past this High Country Cabin, located 15 minutes from Twizel and 40 minutes from Aoraki/Mount Cook.
The design is inspired by the back-country huts found in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, but with many more modern amenities, of course.
THE BEST THINGS TO DO NEAR LAKE PUKAKI
Viewpoints
There are a number of spots along the shore of Lake Pukaki where you can stop and enjoy the view. You can stop pretty much anywhere, and you’ll see places on the side where you can pull over for photos.
If you’re coming from Tekapo, you’ll reach this viewpoint first.
If you’re coming from Twizel, you’ll come to this carpark first.
Another popular place to stop (and take the iconic photo of the road winding along next to the lake) is further along the road to Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, at this location.
The Punatuhu Visitor Centre
The visitor centre at Lake Pukaki is located right by the carpark on the southern shore of the lake — see the location on Google Maps here.
The visitor centre is a small building with a seating area where you can sit and enjoy views of the lake.
There are also information panels detailing the history and stories of the area.
There’s no information desk, but it’s still worth popping in to get some context on the lake and region.
The Lake Pukaki Foreshore
From the carpark at the southern edge of the lake, you can stroll around the foreshore to enjoy different viewpoints. This walk is a short section of the Te Araroa (long pathway), which runs the length of New Zealand.
You can walk for literally hours along the lakeshore — the full trail is 13 kilometres return.
The view doesn’t change a lot on the walk though, so you can just walk as far as you feel then turn around and head back.
The Marker Bay Track is another easy walk along the edge of the lake, weaving through pine trees on the southwestern edge of the lakeshore.
The Marker Bay Track is only one kilometre return, so you can do it in 20 minutes.
The Pukaki Kettle Holes walk
The Pukaki Kettleholes walk climbs a small hill covered in tussock grass, to give you views out across the lake.
You can also make this a loop track if you return via the foreshore walk which follows alongside the highway.
The Mt Cook Alpine Salmon shop is located right next to the Lake Pukaki Visitor Centre.
This salmon is raised in pure, fresh alpine water in the Southern Alps. The salmon are farmed in a network of fast-flowing glacial waterways connecting Lake Tekapo, Pukaki, and Benmore.
From the shop, you can buy melt-in-your-mouth salmon sashimi and enjoy it at the picnic tables outside, looking out across the lake.
Stargazing in the Dark Sky Reserve
The Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, encompassing the area around Lake Pukaki and the nearby Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, is designated as a Dark Sky Reserve by the International Dark-Sky Association.
This means that it is dedicated to preserving the quality of its night skies and reducing light pollution to provide excellent stargazing conditions.
The pristine night skies around Pukaki are stunning on a clear night. With so few buildings around, you can stargaze for free right from the shores of Lake Pukaki.
The freedom camping area is ideal for this.
Alternatively, you can go for a guided experience at the Mt Cook Lakeside retreat.
They have a purpose-built Pukaki Wine Cellar and Observatory, where you can enjoy a glass of wine or tot of whisky from the carefully curated cellar.
The adjoining observatory has a retractable roof and telescope for exploring the Southern stars.
Why is Lake Pukaki so blue?
Lake Pukaki gets its spectacular blue colour from fine silt particles, called glacial flour, suspended in the water.
The silt is ground up by glaciers slowly sliding along rock beds. The resulting glacial flour is so fine its suspended in the water, giving it a striking blue hue.
You can swim in Lake Pukaki, but it’s freezing cold! This is water that’s come from a glacier, so it’s icy. Swimming in Lake Pukaki is more of a cold plunge than leisurely laps.
The water can get rough and because it’s so cold you need to be a little careful, so stick close to shore to avoid getting into trouble.
AUTHOR BIO
I’m a freelance travel writer from New Zealand with bylines in National Geographic Travel, Conde Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and more.
I’ve travelled up and down beautiful Aotearoa and I love sharing my recommendations for the best places to visit in New Zealand.
