Sealy Tarns from White Horse Hill

From the White Horse Hill car park cross to the campground and take the path west to the Kea Point Track. Turn right, cross a footbridge and at the Sealy Tarns turn-off bear left over the stream bed. After a gentle start the track climbs very steeply up the Sealy Range on timber steps in tight zigzags to two small tarns, looking down on Mueller Lake and up the Hooker Valley to Aoraki/Mount Cook. Return the same way; the Mueller Hut Route beyond is an alpine route.

It is 5.5 km there and back with 568 m of ascent; allow about 3½ hours. The grade is Moderate: a relentless climb on steps, narrow and steep near the top.

DOC rates the track as complex avalanche terrain: while snow lies on the slopes above, from autumn into late spring, avalanches can reach the steps, and icy steps may need an ice axe and crampons: check the New Zealand Avalanche Advisory first. There is no shelter, and north-west weather arrives quickly, so turn back early if it closes in.

DOC's car park at White Horse Hill costs $2.50 a half hour or $25 a day by card, the first 20 minutes free, and fills from mid-morning between November and March. Without a car, start in the village on the Kea Point Track, adding about an hour there and back.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.