Bald Mountain Overlook
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.
General Information
weather dependent
No Camping, Pack It In, Pack It Out
Address: 1415 Fort Street Buffalo, WY 82834
Phone: (307) 684-7806
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Closed on federal holidays)
Office Email: SM.FS.bighorninfo@usda.gov
Getting There
Latitude / Longitude
Latitude: 44.80952811
Longitude: -107.84125988
Elevation
9,279 feet
Directions
From Lovell, WY, take Hwy 14A --Medicine Wheel Passage Scenic Byway-- east for about 33 miles. Observation site is on the north side of the highway.
