Mount Barker 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 ...

in the

Mount Lofty Ranges The Mount Lofty Ranges are a range of mountains in the Australian state of South Australia which for a small part of its length borders the east of Adelaide. The part of the range in the vicinity of Adelaide is called the Adelaide Hills and ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and namesake of the nearby town of Mount Barker. The mountain is the home to a transmission tower that services SAGRN and

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

transmissions throughout the area. Microwave radio equipment is also installed on the tower, providing various forms of communication such as broadband internet connections and voice services to Mount Barker residents and businesses.

History

Mount Barker was first sighted by Captain Charles Sturt in 1830, although he thought he was looking at the previously discovered

Mount Lofty Mount Lofty (, elevation AHD) is the highest point in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges. It is located about east of the Adelaide city centre, within the Cleland National Park in the Adelaide Hills area of South Australia. The mountain's sum ...

Captain Collet Barker Collet Barker (31 December 1784 – 30 April 1831) was a British military officer and explorer. He explored areas of South Australia, Western Australia and Cobourg Peninsula, Northern Territory. History Barker was born in Hackney, England, ...

fixed this error when he surveyed the area in 1831. Sturt named the mountain in honor of Captain Barker after he was killed days later by Aborigines. The first Europeans to ascend the mountain, on 27 November 1837, were a six-man party comprising

John Barton Hack John Barton Hack (2 July 1805 – 4 October 1884) was an early settler in South Australia; a prominent farmer, businessman and public figure. He lost his fortune in the financial crisis of 1840 and despite his best efforts, never regained anything ...

John Morphett Sir John Morphett (4 May 1809 – 7 November 1892) was a South Australian pioneer, landowner and politician. His younger brother George Morphett was also an early settler in South Australia. Early life Morphett was born in London, th ...

, Samuel Stephens, Charles Stuart (South Australian Company's stock overseer), Thomas Davis (Hack's stockman), and John Wade (a "gentleman from Hobart Town"). A counterclaim that the first Europeans to scale the summit were

Robert Cock Robert Cock (25 May 1801 – 23 March 1871) was one of the first European explorers of the Adelaide region of South Australia following the establishment of the colony in December 1836. History Robert was born in Dysart, Fife, Scotland in 1801, ...

, William Finlayson, A(dolphus) Valentine Wyatt and George Barton late in December 1837 is not credible. That is because Morphett had a letter published on 28 December 1837 in a Sydney newspaper reporting that the summit had been scaled one month earlier.

Culture

There are numerous activities such as walking trails on the mountain.

References

Barker {{SouthAustralia-geo-stub