Lorn Peak, Kingston
Screenshots of the NZ topographic map are licensed as CC BY 4.0 by Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ).
Kingston is a village at the southern edge of Lake Wakatipu in Otago, South Island. It is about 45 minutes south from Queenstown.
Glen Nevis is a sheep ranch (or ‘station’) a few minutes north towards Queenstown. An easement, the Glen Nevis Access Track, climbs the hills to Lorn Peak. The peaks in this area are among the Hector Mountains.
Glen Nevis Station is distinct from Ben Nevis Station, which is on the other (east) side of the Hector Mountains.
Jub at Chur New Zealand (link below) reports that the track to Lorn Peak is closed for lambing from mid-September to late October. There is no DOC webpage giving exact dates.
Time
It took me 3 hours 30 minutes up, and 3 hours 50 minutes down. This includes breaks.
Route
Drive along Glen Nevis Station Road until there is a gate ahead and a large grassy patch to the right of the road, with a green DOC sign by the fence. Parking on the grassy patch beside the DOC sign keeps your car away from the farm road, which large numbers of cows get herded along.
Once you cross the fence by the DOC sign, the track heads uphill immediately. For the lower half of the hike, this track continues and is easy to follow. Above that, it’s an impact track running through tussock near the fenceline shown on the map.
The metal fence has fallen down in some places, so watch your step when nearby. There is also occasional speargrass to watch out for.
Lorn Peak is not prominent. During my hike, it was in cloud, making it hard to see. However, the route to it was gently sloped, making it relatively safe in limited visibility. There may be exposure to falls beyond the peak - it was too cloudy for me to see.
If 1 is an easy track, and 4 is using hands and feet on exposed rocks, I give this track a 2. Much of the farm track is a 1.
Hunting
The route is not in a hunting area. A hunting area begins at the summit of Lorn Peak. Hunters are forbidden to “discharge firearms near tracks, huts, campsites, road-ends or any other public place.” I have hiked in more than 30 hunting areas, and only passed hunters twice - this wasn’t one of those hikes.
Here is the DOC topomap with all hunting areas visible.