Tabby Mountain (UT)

Overview

An easy mountain to ascend since it has a road to the top. The key is finding the right road that will get you there and while this isn't a mountaineering or even a hiking challenge, you might wonder why it is receiving a page here on Summitpost. Here's my reasoning: Tabby Mtn is of interest since it is one of the top 100 Utah prominence peaks, coming in at #85 on the list. So many mountains have roads to the top but this isn't unrealistic on a prominence peak since putting communication towers on their tops allows for the absolute best coverage. Before communication towers, it was often the best place to stick a lookout tower when there were forests to protect. It is never the fault of the mountain that man has built a road to its summit but I place this mountain here on SP since it does have a special interest to those of us who are actively engaged in peakbagging this interesting category.

Another reason is that by going to this mountain, you will see another part of Utah you might not otherwise pay any attention to. The mountain was named in honor of the Indian chief Tava, who was active in the area before any of the settlers arrived (Utah Place Names by John Van Cott) I'd advise against being in this area during the fall deer rifle hunting season for the reason I will quote from Wikipedia: "The Tabiona/Hanna area is a well renowned mule deer hunting spot. Every fall hunters flock to this Northeast region of Utah to try and score trophy bucks." Of course, if you are a deer hunter, you most likely will find this information of interest to you.

Tabby Mountain proper is managed by Board of Trustees of the state School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA). A sign you encounter on the way up the road informs you of this management aspect and the area has been a concern to those who love it as there has been movement in the past regarding selling the area to a commercial concern. See story HERE.

Oh yes, there is even a book written about this mountain. I haven't read it but obviously it is a mountain that has inspired others to be creative.

Getting There

From Salt Lake City, head for Heber City and highway 40. Passing north of the Strawberry Reservoir and just after passing Fruitland, watch for the turnoff for highway 208. Turn north on 208 (if you need a rest area, there is a good one just east of this turnoff) and head for a junction with highway 35. Turn left and pass through the towns of Tabiona and Hanna. From the center of Hanna, continue on highway 35 another mile or so and watch for a road on the left side of the road. This road drops downhill and crosses a bridge. Stay on this road as it passes some homes and starts up the mountain, making switchbacks until it reaches a level section that will take you to a sign (see pic), just beyond a cattle grate, which is 3.2 miles from highway 35. Continue on, following the road to another junction 1.8 miles further on, where you will turn left. If you start dropping downhill, you will be on the wrong road. Follow this road as it makes it way up the mountain for another 5 miles where you reach another junction. Go left, the summit is a mile up the road from that junction. Overall, is is a total of 11 miles from highway 35 to the summit of Tabby Mountain.

Most of the road when I visited was well graded and in good shape. I didn't see the need for extremely high clearance or 4WD. Conditions of course can change but in August 2009, a vehicle such as a Subaru outback would have no problem. Eric Willhite mentions on his webpage (see below) that he saw a PT Cruiser near the summit on his visit.

GPS waypoints
Road 35 and turnoff
40.4144 -110.7792
Sign 3 miles in
40.3995 -110.8154 elev 8200'
Next turn
40.3293 -110.84025 elev 8400'
Jct with summit road
40.3613 -110.8015 elev 9800'
lat/long nad 27

Red Tape

The land belongs to the state School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA)The sign you saw at the 3.2 mile mark

Main Office:
675 East 500 South, Suite 500, Salt Lake City, Utah 84102
Phone: 801-538-5100

From their website comes this information:
About Us

The Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (Trust Lands Administration) was created to manage 12 real estate trusts granted to the state of Utah by the United States at statehood. At that time, 1/9 of the total land in the state was designated school trust land, with added acreage for 11 other beneficiaries. Trust land totaled 7,475,297 acres at statehood. Since then, about half of what was originally granted to the state has been sold to private owners. More than 30 percent of what is now private land in Utah was originally trust land. The cash from the sale of those trust lands was deposited into the permanent funds of the beneficiaries.

In 1976, the federal government put an end to homesteading in the public domain. Federal lands are no longer available to private citizens as in years past. In Utah, almost 70 percent of the land area remains in federal control, with only about 21 percent privately owned. The Trust Lands Administration, with roughly seven percent of the land in the state, is essentially the only source of new private land in Utah.

The Trust Lands Administration manages a 3.5 million-acre real estate portfolio for the financial benefit of the12 beneficiaries.

Trust lands include both surface lands and mineral lands. The 3.5 million acres discussed so far refer to surface lands in the trust. Most of these lands also have subsurface, or mineral lands, with them. In addition, there are about a million more acres of mineral-only lands in the trust — for a total of 4.5 million acres of mineral lands. Even though there are 12 trust beneficiaries, the Common Schools Trust owns 95 percent of all Utah trust land.

Camping

There appears to be many places to camp not all that far from the summit area. There are no formal campgrounds and a few firerings indicated that other have camped in the forests near the top of the mountain.

For more information, you could most likely reach someone at the phone number
noted in the red tape section. Phone: 801-538-5100

I did note the following as I passed through Tabiona:

Tabby Country Cabins
Tabiona, Utah
(435) 848-5584

They looked kinda cute and might be worth checking into.
For those pulling a trailer:

Star View R.V. & Trailer Park
P.O. Box 376
Tabiona, Utah 84072
(435) 848-5739
They mentioned that they have the following:
Full hook-ups, water, power, and septic. Nestled in the beautiful Tabiona Valley, on the Duchesne River, with stores, café and Post Office are also very near.

Weather

Additional resources

Eric Willhite's page

I need to mention in all fairness that it was Eric Willhite's page on this peak that was very helpful to me. Eric has posted some pics, a description and
a nice map on his page and you can access that information by going to this
LINK.

Eric is a SP member who really has gotten excited about Utah and hails as I do from the state of Washington. I've used his website as a helpful resource for many of the peaks that I didn't know anything about and I'd encourage others to do the same.

Disclaimer

As road conditions can change and hiking or traveling in this type of country can be inherently dangerous, the above information is provided only as a courtesy. You accept all risk and responsibility for your activities in this area and I recommend that you let others know of your plans and where you will be hiking/climbing prior to heading to this area. Be self sufficient and carry plenty of food, water and shelter in the event of a breakdown. Good quality tires are a necessity on the rough and rocky roads you will encounter as is a vehicle in good condition. Having said all that, have a good trip and please let the author of this page know of changes that you encounter.

Images

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