POLARIS, Montana Community Information

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  Scenic View

  Photo courtesy: MTOT

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  Elkhorn Hot Springs

  Photo courtesy: Elkhorn Hot Springs

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  Scenic Byway

  Photo courtesy: MTOT

Polaris is a mining ghost town near Grasshopper Creek Campground and the creek. The Polaris Mine was an important silver property which was located January 31, 1885. It was worked steadily and the ore was shipped by team and wagon to Dillon. In 1892 it was sold to a New York syndicate. Later, the Silver Fissure Mining Company, organized with Harry Armstead in charge, bought the mine and planned extensive improvements. They built forty miles of road from the mine to Armstead, a station on the Oregon Short Line. The smelter was destroyed by a fire in 1922 and by 1955 only a tavern called the Polar Bear, a two-story log house, and a shed were left. Polaris was named by mining engineers for the north star, also known as Polaris. (from Cheney's Names on the Face of Montana, Mountain Press Publishing Company)

Elkhorn Hot Springs is a year-round hot springs resort which offers two outdoor hot mineral pools, a Grecian sauna, a restaurant, and a bar. Guests enjoy hiking, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, plus downhill skiing at nearby Maverick Mountain. Accommodations include rustic cabins, modern cabins, or lodge rooms. Ski from Thanksgiving to the end of March on 20 kilometers of groomed cross-country trails laid out on a marked cloverleaf, to the top of Comet Mountain, or to the old Elkhorn Mine.

A short drive from Polaris, Crystal Park is a unique recreation area at an elevation of 7,800 feet in the Pioneer Mountains in southwest Montana. Crystal Park is open for day use and is great for rockhounding and picnicking.