A short hike to the P on the mountain (near the entrance of Nebo Loop), or continue to the top of Little Mountain. If you keep going along the ridgeline to Tithing Mountain you will cross private property.
Distance: 4.0
Time: 2 hours
Start: Park on Nebo Loop Rd (just before 590 E. St)
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation Gain: 1042 ft
Fee: Free
Park along the Nebo Loop Rd (also called Canyon Rd) and park just before 590 E. St). You should see a dirt trail heading East between two properties that heads towards the canyon. Walk along the dirt road until you are due North of the P and then turn right and head South. The trail is somewhat steep as you begin to climb Little Mountain, but it isn’t long. This will lead you to the top of the P. There is another trail leading to the bottom of the P, but I’ve heard it is rocky and steep.
Continue past the P to the top of Little Mountain to see a rock painted blue with yellow handprints by Payson High School.
There are pretty good views from the top of Little Mountain. You can see the beautiful Payson Temple and up and down the Wasatch Front.
Since you will need to cross private property to get to Tithing Mountain, I recommend you don’t proceed. You can try to locate and contact the owner for permission, but I don’t see their contact information available.
I did this hike a couple weeks ago, and I was so disappointed to find the private property signs. They were not there last year when I did it. It was one of my favorite simple hikes to do when I was short on time. but it’s really too bad about the private property. I was kind of hoping they were just trying to keep out hunters.. but I respect their wishes. Overall a fun hike though!
I really enjoy your blog. Thank you for posting your hiking experiences.
Thanks for your comment Tara! Perhaps this is for litigation reasons – in case someone gets hurt on their property and tries to sue them. If that were the case I wonder if a “Private Property – All persons using this property do so at their own risk” sign would be just as good.