PC Hill, Two Ways

Last week, between dropping my kids off at school and a work meeting, I found myself with a rare hour of free time. I considered  heading to a coffee shop with my laptop and answering emails for that hour. But then, as I noticed the sun parting the early-morning clouds, I decided instead to do both myself and our dog some good and headed to one of my favorite quick-and-dirty hikes: PC Hill.

You can get to the summit of this hike–the signature PC initials that are visible form most places in town–via two different routes. The most well-known and well-traveled is from the trailhead off of Kearns Boulevard just east of the Treasure Mountain Middle School. The trek to the top of the hill, and the enormous cement sidewalk-like PC initials, is about a mile along a moderately steep trail. Though the views of town from this side just keep getting better with every switchback, this side is also west-facing, which means hot on sunny days, even in the springtime.  

My preferred route to the PC Hill summit begins on the other side of the mountain at Round Valley’s Quinn’s Junction Trailhead. From there take Hat Trick about a half-mile to where you’ll see a sign indicating the start of the PC Hill trail. The mile-long route winds its way through cool, thick Gambel oak stands almost all the way to the summit. This is a hiker’s only trail–so if you’re on your bike, you’ll need to stay down in Round Valley. It’s also outside of Round Valley’s off-leash area so be sure to bring a lead to leash up your pooch once you reach the sign for the trail. Full disclosure: I saw only one other person in Round Valley when I hiked PC Hill that day and let my dog run leash free the length of the trail, though I did have a leash with me and would have readily clipped her up had I seen other hikers.

Here’s a snap of the view from along the way up from Round Valley:

Round trip from the Quinn’s Junction parking lot took us just under 45 minutes, which included a few minutes to take in the view at the top.  The few puddles and muddy spots I encountered along the way should be dry this week. Afterward, I was on my way to work, in a much better frame of mind, with time to spare. Here’s hoping that you get to eek out a few minutes to enjoy some unexpected nature immersion and exercise sometime this week. Happy Tuesday!