[1] Although Barron has been a suburb of Cairns rather than a locality since 2002,[2] as at 2021, the principal land use is farming with little residential development.

[3] The locality is bounded to the north-east by the Captain Cook Highway and in the other directions by Kamerunga Road (approximately).

[3][4] The Barron River enters the suburb from the south-west (Kamerunga) as does Freshwater Creek (formerly the Davidson River) with their confluence on the western boundary of the suburb (16°52′00″S 145°42′00″E / 16.8666°S 145.7°E / -16.8666; 145.7 (Freshwater Creek (mouth))).

The river then flows towards the north of the suburb and then to the south-east (along the boundary with Stratford), finally exiting to the east (Machans Beach).

[7][8] The park has equestrian facilities and is home to the Freshwater Pony Club.