Bald Mountain Overlook · U.S. Forest Service
Bald Mountain Overlook is located along the Medicine Wheel Passage Scenic Byway.
Gold Fever
The large rocks next to you are granite. These were formed within the earth’s crust 1 billion years ago. Their exposure is the result of the eroding forces of wind, water, and ice. This granite contains quartz and resembles the rock containing gold found in many parts of the west.
Discoveries of fine-grained gold north of Bald Mountain were made in 1890. “Gold fever” brought many prospectors to the area over the next 10 years. In 1892, the Fortunatas Mining and Milling Company purchased a group of claims on the head of the Little Horn River and Porcupine Creek. The excitement led to the establishment of Bald Mountain City, the most extensive attempt at a settlement in the Bighorn Mountains. The gold rush ended by 1900 because yields were not enough to pay for the effort to panning.