Steven's Peak-bagging Journey

September 9, 2026

3638m

Payson, UT

There are more than a dozen peaks in the U.S. with the same name but this one is probably the most famous one. It’s the “ultra prominent peak” to the south of Salt Lake City/Provo vicinity in the state of Utah. The route follows the north ridge system and offers some spectacular views on a clear day. The are some scrambling required and most of the route is exposed to lightning strikes so this is a straightforward, but not “no brainer” ascent. After completing Kings Peak, the state high point of Utah I decided to tag one of the three remaining “ultras” in the vicinity before heading homewards, and Mt. Nebo would be the most spectacular of the three. The weather was bomber and I wanted the more interesting one, even though the driving detour would be the longest. I ended up driving more than 4 hours between the trail-heads and didn’t get there until almost 1 am. The last half an hour was on some narrow and winding roads above the town of Payson but at least these roads are paved. The actual trail-head was closed for construction so I parked about 1 km back at Monument Trail-head and crashed for the night in the back of the vehicle.

The next morning I again, slept in and woke up naturally and didn’t manage to start hiking until 8:30 am. I had to don sun protection from the parking lot and that tells how late I actually started the day. I had to walk to the actual trail-head. The construction workers hadn’t arrived but it didn’t matter. They only prohibited parking but hiking was still allowed. The views opened up pretty much from the start as the route follows the ridge system so I kept being distracted by the views and didn’t end up hiking too fast. I was also quite tired from the 42-km death march in the previous day. A few notable up-and-downs later I dragged my tired asses onto the N. Ridge of North Peak and took the first break of the day. I ended up spending at least half an hour there as I caught some cell reception to reply some text messages.

North Peak boasts over 100 m prominence so I would have to tag it, but only on the return. I took the trail traversing and bypassing North Peak on the west flanks and then descended into North/Main saddle. The rest of the route follows the NE Ridge of Mt. Nebo all the way to the true summit. The grunt onto the fore summit was quite a slog but the traverse between the two peaks offered some neat positions. The scrambling was minimal but there were some loose terrain with minor exposure. I passed one struggling girl who ended up turning around, and caught up and passed another solo hiker who’s apparently quite experienced from California. This hiker contemplated about traversing further to the middle and south peaks but decided against that. I checked the Peakbagger app and those bumps don’t even have 100 m prominence, so I wouldn’t bother. Instead, I opted to take another long break.

A long while later I started the descent, losing elevation in no time. The traverse still required some care though. I wasn’t sure the best way of tagging that North Peak as on the Gaia’s public tracks I could see multiple routes. I decided to stay on the trail until I was directly underneath the high point before bashing straight up the west slopes. There was some bushwhacking but nothing notable, and the terrain was quite loose as well. The other hiker eventually arrived via a different route. I then descended the north ridge of North Peak staying mostly on a well trodden path and then joined the main trail back to the parking lot. This hike was more than 15 km and still required over 1000 m elevation gain, so wasn’t as short as I was hoping for, but that’s okay.