Milford Road, part of the New Zealand State Highway 94 at Te Anau, climbs to almost 1,000 metres above sea level in its crossing of the remote stretch of the Southern Alps. It provides access to Milford Sound, the only of the Fiordland sounds accessible by road. Milford Road stretches for 120km between Te Anau, the tourism centre of the Fiordland, and Milford Sound. It was completed in 1952 and the Homer Tunnel that cuts through the Southern Alps was started in the 1935 as a public relief works project. The tunnel is 1270 m long and runs down from 945 meters above sea level. In principle the road remains open all year, but as it is a high alpine route and high avalanche risk area, in the winter (May to September) snow, ice and avalanche risks force partial or complete closure on some days and obligatory chains on other days. The drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound takes at least 2 hours non-stop, but there are numerous photo stops as well as short, medium and long walks and itโs better to plan a significantly longer time for the drive.