Barn Bluff is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

located in the Central Highlands region of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The mountain is situated in the

Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park is located in the Central Highlands area of Tasmania (Australia), northwest of Hobart. The park contains many walking trails, and is where hikes along the well-known Overland Track usually begin. Majo ...

at the junction of the easternmost points of the Murchison and

Mackintosh The Mackintosh or raincoat (abbreviated as mac) is a form of waterproof raincoat, first sold in 1824, made of rubberised fabric. The Mackintosh is named after its Scottish inventor Charles Macintosh, although many writers added a letter ''k' ...

river catchments. At

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

it is the fourth

highest mountain Currently, There are at least 108 mountains on Earth with elevations of or greater above sea level. The vast majority of these mountains are located on the edge of the Indian plate, Indian and Eurasian plate, Eurasian plates in China, India, ...

in Tasmania, exceeding the height of the more famous

Cradle Mountain Cradle Mountain is a locality and mountain in the Central Highlands region of the Australian state of Tasmania. The mountain is situated in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. At above sea level, it is the sixth-highest mountai ...

by . The Barn Bluff is frequently snow-covered, sometimes even in summer. This mountain is perhaps the most prominent peak of the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park and is visible from most areas and stands on its own, well away from other peaks. It is a popular venue for bushwalkers and

mountain climbers A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

, accessible via a side trip from the

Overland Track The Overland Track is an Australian Backpacking (wilderness), bushwalking track, traversing Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. It's walked by more than nine thousand people each yea ...

. The path is moderate to difficult and has very steep sections, with boulder scrambling toward summit. The route is marked by

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

s. The mountain was formed by glacial action and erosion and is characterised, for the most part, by the

dolerite Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grained ...

slabs and boulders typical of the alpine regions of the state. Many of the summits in Tasmania are rather obscure tors perched only slightly higher than the alpine plateau on which they sit. Barn Bluff, like Cradle Mountain, presents a classic summit. The mountain's nearest neighbours are quite distant and, therefore, the 360-degree panorama from the summit is uninterrupted and spectacular.

References

External links

Tasmanian parks

Track notes
for Barn Bluff
Frank Hurley photograph in National Library online collection
Mountains of Tasmania Central Highlands (Tasmania) Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park Sills (geology) Mesozoic Australia {{CentralHighlandsTAS-geo-stub

See also

References

External links