Field Guide, Little Belt Mountains part of MT Field Guides
This field guide extends from Monarch to Utica across the northeastern portion of the Little Belt Mountains. The trip, via Hughesville, Yogo Peak and the Yogo sapphire mines, provides an overview of Laramide igneous activity in the Little Belt Mountains of central Montana. The mountains were formed as a large anticline in the Late Cretaceous to late Paleocene or earliest Eocene. The forceful intrusions in the Little Belt Mountains by felsic, hence viscous magmas, contrast sharply with the low-viscosity, basic, alkaline extrusives in the Highwood Mountains to the north.

Guide to the Chrome Mountain Area part of MT Field Guides
The Chrome Mountain area lies at nearly 10,000-feet elevation in the west-central part of the Stillwater Complex between the main part of the Boulder River and the headwaters of the East Boulder River. At Chrome Mountain, the olivine +/- bronzite +/- chromite cumulates of the Ultramafic Series are relatively well exposed and stratigraphically broadly resemble those at Mountain View. In addition, a distinctive rock type occurs: a fine-grained dunite which appears to have formed as a replacement of the ultramafic cumulates.

Guide to the Gish Mine Area part of MT Field Guides
The Gish mine is located in the Boulder River valley near the west end of the Stillwater Complex. At Gish, the Peridotite zone of the Ultramafic series is exposed, and features of particular interest include an excellent exposure of discordant dunite and a major chromite seam which has been correlated with the G chromitite elsewhere in the complex. Other notable features include: (1) cyclic units which exhibit some lateral variation, and (2) a possible unconformity that separates the series of cyclic units (olivine-bronzite cumulates and bronzite cumulates), which the discordant dunite intrudes, from the major series of olivine cumulates which enclose the main chromite seam.

Guide to the Stillwater Complex Exposed in the West Fork Area part of MT Field Guides
The parts of the Stillwater Complex exposed along the West Fork of the Stillwater River were the site of early chromite exploration, followed by Cu-Ni-sulfide exploration and, finally, platinum-group-element (PGE) exploration. The best exposures of Troctolite-Anorthosite zone I (TAZ I) anywhere in the complex and the discovery outcrops of the J-M Reef occur in cliffs on the west side of the river and are readily accessible. Parking for these outcrops is immediately beyond the bridge across the West Fork of the Stillwater River at the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness boundary. The lower chromite seams in the Peridotite-zone cumulates are well-exposed in the West Fork area but require nearly a full day to visit on foot. These exposures provide the opportunity to trace chromite seams and to study the changes in their internal stratigraphy and chemistry. The West Fork area illustrates quite well that not all members in Peridotite-zone cyclic units are continuous.

Road Log to the Picket Pin Mountain, Chome Mountain and Contact Mountain Areas part of MT Field Guides
This road log describes the geologic features along the access roads for three additional traverses: Guide to the Picket Pin Mountain Area, Guide to the Chrome Mountain Area, and A Traverse Through the Banded Series in the Contact Mountain Area. "This trip requires nearly 2 hours without stops. Beyond 12.5 miles, the road is rough and steep in places; a four-wheel-drive vehicle is recommended.

A Traverse Through the Banded Series in the Contact Mountain Area part of MT Field Guides
This traverse through the Banded Series of the Stillwater Complex follows the section described in detail by McCallum and others (1980)....Unusual or particularly interesting features are highlighted by the 22 localities along the traverse. In view of the nearly continuous outcrop, however, there is much of interest to see between localities, and full appreciation of the entire section would require several days. Nonetheless, most of the important rock types can be seen on a 1-day trip.

Crazy Mountains, Montana part of MT Field Guides
This trip examines a variety of mid-Eocene alkalic (feldspathoidal) stocks, laccoliths, sills, and dikes emplaced into Cretaceous and Paleozoic sedimentary strata. These rocks include mafic and felsic varieties, and are both texturally and compositionally variable. Most of the mafic alkalic rocks are unique in the Montana Alkalic Province in having Na2O > K2O. They are unusual even among feldspathoidal rocks because they are stongly enriched in incompatible elements, and have Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopic compositions which reflect an ancient source having low Rb/Sr, Sm/Nd, and U/Pb.

Geology of the Stillwater Complex exposed in the Mountain View area and on the west side of Stillwater Canyon part of MT Field Guides
The part of the Stillwater Complex exposed on the west side of the Stillwater canyon has been the site of concentrated prospecting and geology activity since Jack Nye and Jimmy and Jonas Hedges found sulfide-rich rocks there in 1883. Readily seen in this area are well-studied and excellent exposures of: (1) most rock types, (2) ore deposits and mineralized occurrences, (3) structural features and (4) stratigraphic and age relations between the metamorphosed sedimentary rocks and the layered ultramafic-mafic stratiform intrusion. In addition, there are good exposures of a quartz monzonitic suite, which intrudes the complex and the metamorphosed sedimentary rocks, and of the Beartooth gneisses. Because the rocks in this area have been deformed by several episodes of faulting, a synopsis of the structural relations is given to clarify the geologic setting. Detailed overviews of the geology specific to the area are presented, and the geology of the more interesting exposures in the area is described in a road log that begins in the Ultramafic series, proceeds through the Basal series, the Banded series, and the quartz monzonite that cuts the complex, and ends in the Beartooth gneisses.

Cumulate Xenoliths in the Lodgepole, Enos Mountain and Susie Peak Intrusions: A Guide part of MT Field Guides
The Lodgepole, Enos Mountain and Susie Peak plutons represent multiple intrusions of intermediate magma that were emplaced at depths ranging from near-surface to 2 km during the Late Cretaceous....These intrusions lie, respectively, 8, 9 and 12 km north of the nearest outcrops of the Stillwater Complex. The Lodgepole intrusion is composed of an early, dacitic phase and a later, dioritic phase; the diorite contains abundant xenoliths (maximum 31 cm diameter) in the area north of Clover Basin near its west margin. These xenoliths include foliated mafic amphibolite, gneiss, Paleozoic sedimentary rocks and mafic cumulates. Smaller xenoliths of similar rock types are found in the Enos Mountain and Susie Peak intrusions....Mineral compositions and textures lead to the conclusion that the cumulate xenoliths were brought up from a buried underlying extension of the Stillwater Complex.

Guide to the Picket Pin Mountain Area part of MT Field Guides
This traverse through part of the Banded series provides relatively easy access to the upper half of the exposed part of the Stillwater Complex. The percentage of outcrops is high, and even in areas of soil or tundra cover, the float appears to be sufficiently immobile and concentrated to give an accurate picture of the underlying bedrock geology....The traverse begins in the Middle gabbro zone and terminates where Paleozoic limestone unconformably overlies the Upper anorthosite zone. Above the Middle anorthosite zone, it follows the Picket Pin section described by McCallum and others (1980) and Raedeke (1982b)....An optional traverse through some lithologically complex and intriguing rocks in the Upper anorthosite zone north of the Castle Creek fault is also described. Total traverse time, including the drive from Carter's Camp and return, is 8-10 hours. Elevations range from 9,300 to 10,000 feet.