Bald Mountain (Wasatch)

Utah has plenty of Bald Mountains. While the most popular Bald Mountain is located up in the Uintas, one of the least visited Bald Mountains is located in the Wasatch, just two miles north of Mount Nebo. The profile of Bald Mountain is clearly seen when looking toward the south end of the valley, only very few people know that they are looking at it.

Bald Mountain Hike Details

Distance – 3.5 miles roundtrip
Approximate hiking time – 2.5 to 4.0 hours
Elevation at Trailhead – 9200 feet
Elevation at Summit – 10,913 feet
Elevation gain – 1713 feet
Difficulty – First 0.75 mile – Easy, Last mile to the summit – Strenuous
Trail – dirt and rock
Amount of water recommended – 2 liters
Bathrooms – Located at the trailhead
Season to hike – Mid June to mid October, depending on the snowfall
Permits – None needed
Pets allowed – Yes, although not recommended

How to get there:

Follow Interstate 15 south from downtown Salt Lake for approximately 58 miles to the town of Payson. Take Exit 250, and head south (under the overpass) on UT-115, which is also Payson Main Street. Follow Main Street south to the stoplight at 100 North. Turn left at the stoplight, and head east for six blocks, where you will turn right (south) onto 600 East. Before you make the turn, you’ll see a brown street sign that reads Nebo Loop road with an arrow to help point you in the right direction. You will pass the old renovated Peteetneet building on your right on 600 East. You’ll continue through neighborhoods for several blocks, and be sure to watch your speed. Even though it’s tempting to go faster, the limit is 25 mph. This road will turn into the Nebo Loop Road. From the mouth of the canyon, follow the road for 22.8 miles, until you see a sign on the right that says Monument Trailhead. Turn here. As soon as you turn in, you will see another smaller sign on your immediate right that says Mona Pole Road. The trailhead is around 2 miles up this road. At 0.4 miles down this dirt road, you’ll pass the Mount Nebo trailhead. The road is a little rough in some spots, and while a 2WD vehicle can travel the road if careful, unless it is wet, then the going can be very difficult. When you’ve traveled about 2 miles from getting on the Mona Pole Road, you’ll see a clearing for a couple of campsites on the right side of the road. Just park in the clearing. At the west end of the clearing, (if facing the clearing from the road, it is on the left side of the clearing) you’ll see a trail leading west into the woods. (See the Google Map for this hike at the end of this post)

Hitting the Trail!

As you drive to past the Mount Nebo trailhead on the way to the Bald Mountain trailhead, it is not unusual to fifteen cars at the Nebo trailhead, while you will rarely see even one for the Bald Mountain hike. As you pull into the clearing on the right side of the road, you’ll see that a trail enters the woods, heading west. As you leave the clearing into the trees, the trail will parallel the curve of the road below for about 0.2 miles. The trail comes out of a mix cluster of aspen and underbrush onto what was an old jeep/bulldozer trail. This path is not well used, and there are parts that may be hard to follow, but for the most part, it is visible, even though the tall grasses along the way can choke out the trail in some parts. Once the trail leaves the cover of the trees, the trail follows the middle of the jeep trail which heads west. For a quick history lesson, this jeep trail was constructed and used back during the early 1930’s to carry men and equipment up the mountain. These men worked for the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) which was a public relief program of President Franklin Roosevelt’s from 1933 to 1942 in an effort to ease the pain of the Great Depression by putting unemployed, unmarried men from the ages of 18-25 to work.  Most of the work here in Utah consisted of erosion control by constructing terraces along the sides of mountains. As you make you’re way to many of the summits along the Wasatch Mountains, you’ll see these terraces. On the drive to the trailhead you may have seen these terraces, and as you hike down the trail, you’ll cross as many as 24 terraces on your way to the top of Bald Mountain.  After about one half mile from the trailhead, the trail will turn north and begin to cross over several terraces and it gently climbs.

After the trail ascends through the lower terraces, the trail will top out at a flat area. You will see that the trail continues down the other side of the ridgeline past a fence. This is where you leave the trail. To reach Bald Mountain you will take the slopes up to the left.

From this point on there is no trail to the summit. The fence row that runs perpendicular to the trail is what you should use as a guide to reach the upper slopes of Bald Mountain. The underbrush along the terraces to the upper slopes of Bald Mountain can be thick, with plenty of spurweeds. As you make you’re way up the terraces to the slopes, you’ll want to stick as close to the fence row as you can to avoid the spurweeds and other underbrush.

Once you make it to the top of  the terraces, your route to the summit will be much easier. The slopes up to the top of Bald Mountain are free of trees and brush, and is covered with small scree (loose small flat rocks) which is not hard to ascend. Before you know it you’ll make the summit, where you’ll find a large rock cairn, and some large broken pieces of mirror, which was probably hauled up there by Boy Scouts to signal other nearby peaks.

There are great views in all directions from the summit, and it comes as no surprise that the views from Bald Mountain are very similar to what you’d see on the summit of Mount Nebo with the exception that Bald Mountain is a little over 1000 feet lower. Some of the best views of Mount Nebo can seen from the summit of Bald Mountain. There is also a summit register that is found in the cairn for you to sign.  Take plenty of pictures as your views for I thought the way down would be a little more adventurous since the descent would be down the small scree rocks. I found that jogging down the slopes worked the best for me and it only took about 25 minutes to descend all the way down to the trail at the fence line. The rest of the trail back to my Jeep was a good cool down as it is a gradual descent through the terraces and wildflowers.

If you are looking for some solitude on the trails, this is a hike for you. I didn’t anyone the entire time, even though there were plenty of hikers just the next mountain over.

Hiking shoes I recommend for this hike: You’ll want shoes with good traction that keep out rocks and debris. Try these Keen hiking shoes or these Merrell hiking shoes.

Enjoy the hike!
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