Elkhorn Mountains

The Elkhorns Geographic Area encompasses the Elkhorn Mountains in Broadwater and Jefferson counties and includes the small mining town of Elkhorn. The nearest population center is Helena, Montana. Many smaller communities also have intimate relationships with the geographic area: Montana City, Clancy, Alhambra, Jefferson City, Boulder, Radersburg, Townsend, Winston, and East Helena. The Elkhorns are surrounded by the Divide Mountains and Boulder Batholith on the west, and the Missouri and Boulder River valleys on the north, east, and south. The form of the Elkhorn Mountains is rounded and furrowed from extensive weathering. High points are prominent from background northwest, west, and southwest perspectives but cryptic from other vantages. Drainages have carved steep gulches and canyons. The majority of the Elkhorns (north, west, southwest) is a part of a batholith. This geologic history has left the area rich in minerals. Evidence of glaciation is localized as boulder strewn areas of granitic rocks. The remaining approximate quarter (southwest) of the geographic area is underlain by sedimentary rock that lacks the same mineralization as the batholith but is rich in calcareous rock. The landforms are rugged, low mountains with hogback ridges and dry valleys.