Mount Barrow is a Jurassic dolerite-capped plateau with widespread block fields and a sharp summit ridge at the north-eastern end.

It is the closest alpine mountain to Launceston - the plateau extends to 3 kilometres (2 mi) and reaches a maximum altitude of 1,406 metres (4,613 ft) above sea level,[1] making it the second highest peak in eastern Tasmania.

[9] Confusing the issue further, Mt Barrow is named 'Ben Loder' in John Glover's 1836 painting and the mountain is further mentioned in newspaper print several times as 'Mount Barron' - and may have been known colloquially as such in the 19th century.

[14] Later maps of the north-east show Row Tor as occupying the present day location of Mt Arthur, it's possible that originally Row Tor was the colloquial name for the broader north-east highlands region and the separate massifs of present-day Mount Arthur and Mount Barrow were delineated cartographically in the 1840s.

[17] The hinterland was subject to scientific exploration by Paul Strzelecki in 1846 and prospectors gradually opened up the rugged country in the north-east after that time.

Due to the rugged terrain the programme reaches the sites via microwave links instead of the usual fibre optic cables.