Page Type Page Type: Mountain/Rock
Location Lat/Lon: 40.13594°N / 112.7288°W
Additional Information County: Tooele
Activities Activities: Hiking
Seasons Season: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
Additional Information Elevation: 6434 ft / 1961 m
Sign the Climber's Log
Round Top

Overview

Want to see some Proghorn Antelope? I can almost guarantee that you will when you go to visit this lonely little mountain. I see quite a few every time I am in this area so that is why I feel confident you will see these beautiful animals. How about some Wild Horses? Yes, you might see some of them as well as they do range in this area. I have seen plenty of evidence of their presence (huge piles of evidence) and of course, some of the good old western USA cattle that also roam and feed in this area. Despite the aridity of the area, wildlife is plentiful.

This mountain is found in the western Utah desert, not far from the fabled Pony Express trail and of course today you have a road that gets you to where the pony express riders went so you do feel history when you drive into this area. Although at just 6434 feet of elevation, it isn't a tall mountain, it does have prominence to offer with 1209' and comes in at #233 on the Utah list of peaks with 1000 feet of prominence or more. It also offers the unique opportunity to include an additional peak or two as a package deal. Nearby Davis Peak and Davis Mountain can easily be added to a hike and in fact I highly recommend it. The eastern ridge offers a gentle enough gradient that small children (with supervision) could hike up this one although rattlesnakes might be something to watch out for in the warmer months.


Getting There

Pony Express Hawk
From I-15, exit at the Lehi main street exit (#279) and head west on highway 68 to just beyond Five Mile Pass. Just after you pass the Tooele county sign, look for a road that bends off to the southwest. This is the Pony Express road and it has signage pointing you to Faust. You will pass a Pony Express memorial along this road and then cross some railroad tracks at Faust (no town, just a crossing). Another mile or so brings you to highway 36 where you will turn south towards Vernon. Watch for a sign in a mile or so that indicates the Pony Express road and turn right. Take it to Lookout Pass, stop at the pass to read the memorial marker there and then continue on as the road descends into the great western utah desert. As the road heads toward Simpson Springs, watch for a sign that indicates the road to Dugway as that is the road you want to take. Round Top is right in your face and your main goal
is to get to the base using the Dugway road and then lesser dirt roads that branch off and head for the mountain. See Eric's map below as it will offer
some guidance.
Round Top

Note: From the Maverick gas station in Lehi to the turnoff onto a dirt road that I utilized, it is roughly 50 miles. Add another 4 or so and you can see that the distance isn't that great.

Round Top



Getting there pics & Album

Round Top
Round Top

Over 30 pics are posted in the Round Top album and rather than reproduce them here on this page, I would refer you to that album to get more pics of this area. Check out my favorite shot, the one with Dozer the dog.

The route up and then the hike over to Davis Mtn

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From where I parked, you could select several lines up to the summit. The pic shows the line I selected. The total distance was about a mile and gave me an elevation gain of close to 1100 feet since I dropped down into another drainage before going up the ridgeline I selected. Very enjoyable hiking.
Round Top

When you get to the summit of Round Top, walk towards Davis Mtn and you will find a steep but very doable route down to the saddle that connects the two peaks. Loose talus is the main concern but once at the saddle, it is an easy hike up to Davis Mountain. You can then pick a line back to your vehicle after your visit to the top of Davis or you could continue on south to pick up the last Davis peaklet which is titled Davis Mountain on the google map found at list of John. While it is titled Davis Mountain on the map, it is lower than the one described here. From Round Top to Davis is about 1/2 mile and an additional 350 feet of elevation gain. Davis's elevation is 6252'.
Round Top

The summit of Round Top and the views.

Round Top Benchmark (UT)

A benchmark is found just west of the cairn. I noticed an additional reference benchmark about twenty feet to the south and there may have been another that I didn't notice. I did place a register in the summit cairn so look for that when you get up there.
Round Top


The views from the summit are truly nice and you get a great feel for this area from there. With Indian Peaks and the Sheeprocks to the south, Stookey Peak and the Onaqui's to the east and Dugway to the north, you can enjoy your time on the summit. From nearby Davis Mountain, the views are also very nice.
There is no register or benchmark to find on Davis Mountain but as mentioned, it is worth the extra effort to gain its summit.
In 2015, Sam Grant did this and posted his GPS track at Peakbagger.com

Lists of John indicate that 8 people have been to the summit of this one with two in 2015 so far.
ChrisH
DeanMolen
GregBronder
jhardink
RyanDavis
scgrant
willhiteweb
ZeeJay

Red Tape and a great link

This is BLM land and there is no red tape. Do not drive off the existing dirt roads and if you camp, use the leave no trace ethics.
Round Top


Check out Eric Willhite's Trip Report and pics when he did Round Top with his kids HERE.

Camping

Lots of camping areas just below Lookout Pass on the western side. On a weekend in the spring and fall, you will see plenty of campers. The land that Round Top is on is BLM land so you can practice "leave no trace" camping nearby. Just pack out what you take, please don't leave any trash or create any fire rings. Simpson Springs is another area for camping.

Weather (Vernon)

Pony Express history

Link One
Link Two
Link Three
Round Top

Wikipedia Link

Children

Children

Children refers to the set of objects that logically fall under a given object. For example, the Aconcagua mountain page is a child of the 'Aconcagua Group' and the 'Seven Summits.' The Aconcagua mountain itself has many routes, photos, and trip reports as children.