Last updated October 2026
Kinmont Park is a residential suburb on the northeastern edge of the Taieri Plain, inside the Dunedin City boundary. It sits at the foot of Saddle Hill, south of State Highway 1, and postal addresses usually read Kinmont Park, Mosgiel, 9024.
Despite the word park in the name, this is a housing area of crescents and side streets, not a public reserve. Shops, schools and most services are in Mosgiel rather than on these streets. For anyone looking west of central Dunedin, it is a quiet hillside pocket with the saddle-shaped hill behind it and the plain opening out in front.
Practical Information
- Getting there
- State Highway 1 and the Dunedin Southern Motorway link the Taieri with central Dunedin. Local streets include Quarry Road, Morris Road, Boundary Road and Kinmont Crescent. Orbus On Demand covers Kinmont on weekdays; Route 77 runs between Mosgiel and the city via Fairfield and Green Island.
- Main shopping
- Mosgiel town centre, along Gordon Road
- Nearby landmarks
- Saddle Hill (Pukemakamaka), Mosgiel town centre, the Mosgiel hillside sign near State Highway 1
About Kinmont Park
Kinmont Park is the name of the suburb, not of a council park with gates and playgrounds. Housing is spread along streets such as Kinmont Crescent, Braeside, Gebbie Street, Clyde Street, Gracemount Place and Coalstage Road.
The ground rises toward Saddle Hill, so many properties look across Mosgiel and the Taieri rather than toward a local shopping strip. Day-to-day life points north and west into Mosgiel, which has been part of Dunedin City since local government was reorganised in 1989.
Saddle Hill is the landmark that defines the setting. Wikipedia records its Māori name as Pukemakamaka, with the peaks known as Makamaka and Pikiwara. One tradition says the hill is the remains of a taniwha called Meremere. The eastern peak reaches 473 metres and the western peak, Jaffray’s Hill, 431 metres.
The hill is part of the extinct Dunedin Volcano. Erosion has left a volcanic plug on the western peak, which gives the outline its distinctive shape. It stands between Mosgiel and Green Island and is easy to pick out from the southern side of the city.
Captain James Cook described the hill in February 1770 as a remarkable saddle, which is how it got its English name. Early European maps sometimes called it Saddleback Hill. A small coal seam was worked from 1849, the first coal mine in the country, and the name Coalstage Road in the suburb echoes that history on the hill.
A shepherd named Jaffray settled on the hill the same year. The wider Mosgiel settlement took its name from Mossgiel Farm in Ayrshire, the farm of the poet Robert Burns, uncle of the Reverend Thomas Burns, a founder of the Otago settlement.
The town grew after Arthur John Burns established the Mosgiel Woollen Company in 1871, and it remains the service town for this side of the plain.
Kinmont Park itself reads as later housing at the foot of the hill rather than as an old village centre. Wikipedia describes it as a housing subdivision in that position, south of State Highway 1. There is no town square, supermarket or secondary school on these streets.
Residents use Mosgiel for groceries, health services and most community facilities, and use the highway when they are heading into central Dunedin. The appeal is the outlook: the saddle above the houses, and the flat Taieri country beyond Gordon Road.
Getting Around
Driving is the straightforward way in. State Highway 1, including the Dunedin Southern Motorway, is the main link between the Taieri and the city.
Gordon Road, which is also the start of State Highway 87, is Mosgiel’s main street and the usual way into the town centre from this side of the highway. Inside the suburb, Quarry Road and Morris Road are the streets most often used to reach the crescents.
Public transport is run by Orbus, for the Otago Regional Council. Orbus On Demand is a bookable rideshare for Mosgiel, Wingatui, East Taieri and Kinmont. It replaced the old Mosgiel loop buses on routes 80 and 81. There is no fixed timetable: you book a pickup in the app or by phone, then walk to a nearby point.
The service runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm, and does not run on public holidays. Standard Dunedin bus fares apply, paid with a Bee Card or cash.
For a timetabled trip into the city, Route 77 runs between Mosgiel and the Dunedin Bus Hub on Great King Street, via Fairfield and Green Island. Check the Orbus journey planner before you travel, because on-demand pickups and Route 77 stops are not the same thing.
Shopping and Everyday Services
Kinmont Park does not have its own shopping centre. Mosgiel town centre, strung along Gordon Road, is the place for supermarkets, cafes, banks and everyday shops. The town is also the service centre for farms on the surrounding plain, so the range is wider than a small suburban strip.
The hillside sign spelling out Mosgiel, set near State Highway 1 and modelled on the Hollywood sign, is the landmark most people use when they are coming in from the highway.
Schools are in Mosgiel, not on Kinmont Park streets. The town’s state schools include Taieri College (years 7 to 13) and the contributing primaries East Taieri School, Elmgrove School and Silverstream School.
St Mary’s School is a state-integrated Catholic full primary, and Amana Christian School is a private composite school. Enrolment schemes change, so check the street address with the school or the Ministry of Education before you assume a zone.
Saddle Hill and the Outdoors
The outdoors here are mostly the hill and the view, not a chain of local reserves. Saddle Hill has two peaks, and a lookout on the northern slopes looks across the Taieri Plain.
On a clear day that view reaches a long way west, including toward Lake Waihola. The hill has been quarried for basalt gravel, especially on Jaffray’s Hill, and the skyline is something local people watch closely.
This page is about the suburb as a place to live and visit, not a summit guide. If you want to walk on the hill, use a current Dunedin City Council or Department of Conservation description before you go, and treat quarry edges and private land as closed. Down in the streets, the experience is residential: footpaths, driveways and the hill filling the sky to the south.
Where to Learn More
Mosgiel on Wikipedia: town history, Gordon Road, State Highway 1, and the note that Kinmont Park is a housing area at the foot of Saddle Hill.
Saddle Hill on Wikipedia: Māori names, Cook’s description, geology, and the hill’s coal and quarrying history.
Orbus On Demand for Mosgiel: official booking rules and the service area, which includes Kinmont.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kinmont Park a park?
No. It is a LINZ suburb of Dunedin City: a residential area at the foot of Saddle Hill, usually addressed as Mosgiel. The name does not mean there is a public park of that name to visit.
Is Kinmont Park part of Mosgiel or Dunedin?
Both, in different senses. It is inside Dunedin City and is administered by Dunedin City Council. Postal addresses use Mosgiel and the postcode 9024, and daily services are in the Mosgiel town centre.
How do you get there from central Dunedin?
Take State Highway 1 and the Dunedin Southern Motorway toward Mosgiel, then use local streets such as Quarry Road, Morris Road or Boundary Road. Gordon Road is the main street if you are continuing into Mosgiel itself.
Is there a bus to Kinmont Park?
Orbus On Demand covers Kinmont, along with Mosgiel, Wingatui and East Taieri. It is a bookable weekday rideshare, not a fixed route, and it does not run on public holidays. Route 77 is the timetabled bus between Mosgiel and the city via Fairfield and Green Island.
Where do residents shop?
In Mosgiel town centre, along Gordon Road. Kinmont Park does not have its own mall or supermarket strip.
Are there schools in Kinmont Park?
No school could be confirmed inside the suburb. Mosgiel has Taieri College, East Taieri School, Elmgrove School, Silverstream School, St Mary’s School and Amana Christian School. Check the enrolment scheme for your exact address.
What is the Māori name of Saddle Hill?
Wikipedia records the hill’s Māori name as Pukemakamaka. The peaks were known as Makamaka and Pikiwara, and one tradition links the hill to a taniwha called Meremere.
Why is the hill called Saddle Hill?
Captain James Cook described it in February 1770 as a remarkable saddle. The two peaks, and the dip between them, are what give the hill that shape.
Spotted something incorrect on this page? Let us know.