Rockhounding Montana: A Guide to 100 of Montana's Best Rockhounding Sites

by Montana Hodges

Overview

With this informative, fully updated and revised guide, you can explore the mineral-rich region of Montana. It describes the state's best rockhounding sites and covers popular and commercial sites as well as numerous little-known areas. This handy guide also describes how to collect specimens, includes maps and directions to each site, and lists rockhound clubs around the state. This is truly a complete guide to popular collecting sites in Montana and source-book brimming with advice that can be of use to both the novice and the experienced rockhounder.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493088805
Publisher:	Globe Pequot Publishing
Publication date:	12/16/2025
Series:	Rockhounding Series
Edition description:	4th Edition
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.85(d)

About the Author

Montana Hodges has traveled throughout the western United States as a geologist and freelance writer. Her works include a series of camping, hiking, and rockhounding books for FalconGuides. She received her master’s in science journalism at the University of Montana and currently lives in Missoula, where she is working on her PhD in paleontology.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

Montana's Geologic Introduction 4

Montana's State Gems 6

Rockhounding 10

How to Use This Book 14

Weather 15

Where to Stay 15

Safety 15

Ten Vistas for Your Montana Journey 16

Rockhounding Sites in Montana

1 Whitefish Fossils 23

2 Kalispell Pyrite 25

3 Libby Creek Gold 27

4 Fishtrap Creek Fossils 29

5 Cox Gulch Minerals 30

6 Taft Mountain Pyrite 31

7 Superior Minerals 34

8 Snowbird Mine Fluorite 37

9 Lolo Crystals 39

10 Garnet Mountain Fossils 42

11 Garnet Minerals 44

12 Drummond Fossils 45

13 Rattler Gulch Fossils 46

14 Helmville Fossils 48

15 Gem Mountain Sapphires 51

16 Flint Creek Rocks 53

17 Phillipsburg Minerals 55

18 Blackfoot River Rocks 58

19 Rogers Pass Onyx 59

20 Bowman's Corner Fossils 60

21 Augusta Fossils 63

22 Sun River Fossils 64

23 Two Medicine Dinosaur Digs 66

24 Blackleaf Fossils 68

25 Craig Minerals 70

26 Ellison Agate 72

27 Montana City Jasper 74

28 Spokane Bar Sapphire Mine 75

29 Argo Mine Minerals 77

30 Basin Barite 79

31 Homestake Pass Pegmatites 83

32 Radcr Creek Crystals 85

33 Quartz Hill 88

34 Calvert Loop Minerals 89

35 Crystal Park 91

36 Argenta Minerals and Fossils 94

37 Farlin Minerals 95

38 Clark Canyon Fossils 98

39 Dell Fossils 101

40 Rochester Mining District 103

41 Dillon Talc 106

42 Sweetwater Road Rhyolite 107

43 Ruby Reservoir Garnets 108

44 Red Rock Mine Garnets 110

45 River of Gold 112

46 Virginia City Minerals 113

47 Norris Crystals 116

48 Spire Rock Travertine 119

49 Big Sky Fossils 120

50 Red Cliff Crystals 122

51 Fairy Lake Fossils 125

52 Bozeman Pass Minerals 127

53 Hyalite Canyon 129

54 Point of Rocks Agate 130

55 Gallatin Petrified Forest 133

56 Gardiner Travertine 135

57 Daisy Pass Minerals 138

58 Red Lodge Fossils 141

59 Belfry Fossils 142

60 Pryor Mountains Chert and Fossils 143

61 Red Dome Fossils 146

62 Itch-Kep-Pe Agate 149

63 Laurel Agate 150

64 Dino Lab Digs 152

65 Riverfront Park Agate 153

66 Billings Fossils 155

67 Stratford Hill Fossils 156

68 Klein Fossils 159

69 Lavina Fossils 161

70 Ryegate Fossils 162

71 Shawmut Trace Fossils 163

72 Swimming Woman Creek Fossils 164

73 Crystal Lake Fossils 165

74 Yogo Gold and Fossils 168

75 Belt Fossils 171

76 Loma Fossils 172

77 Judith Peak Crystals 175

78 Musselshell Fossils 179

79 Flatwillow Creek Fossils 180

80 Little Rockies Gold 183

81 Fossil Hill 184

82 Malta Dinosaur Digs 185

83 Malta Fossils 186

84 Glasgow Chert 187

85 Timber Creek Fossils 189

86 Jordan Fossils 191

87 Paleo World Dinosaurs Digs 193

88 Paleotrek Dinosaurs Digs 195

89 Winnett Fossils 197

90 Ingomar Fossils 199

91 Forsyth Agate 200

92 Castle Rock Lake Fossils 202

93 Miles City Fossils 204

94 Strawberry Hill Petrified Wood 205

95 Fort Union Fossils 207

96 Terry Agate 209

97 Fallon Agate 211

98 Glendive Fossils 212

99 Baisch's Dinosaur Digs 214

100 Sidney Agate 217

Appendix A Glossary 219

Appendix B Further Reading 223

Appendix C Finding Maps, Land Managers, and Information 224

Appendix D Rock Shops in Montana 226

Index 228

About the Author 230