[9] The ski area at Showdown, Montana is nearby and takes advantage of the mountainous terrain.

[11] The highway then climbs toward King's Hill, a major pass through the Little Belt Mountains.

[8] Gold, lead, sapphires, silver, and zinc have all been discovered and mined in the area.

[8] Much of the exposed rock in the area is dated to the Precambrian era, or around or before 542 million BC.

[8] Rocks in the area belong to what is known as the Belt Supergroup and rest against granitic gneiss.

"Buck" Barker and Patrick Hughes, two prospectors, discovered silver ore on Galena Creek in the Little Belt Mountains.

[21] When the news reached Barker, several parties of prospectors headed for the area[22] and established a new mining camp on Belt Creek named Canyon City.

[4] A road to White Sulphur Springs was constructed shortly thereafter, although ore was packed out by mule to Barker and smelted there.

[23] By this time, the town featured a blacksmith's shop, a boarding house, restaurants, two saloons, and stables.

[23][25] In 1887, these early mines largely shut down, as most of the richest and easily accessible veins of ore had been exhausted.

On November 15, 1891, a spur of the Montana Central Railway reached Neihart, and a strong mining boom began.

[23] Now even low-grade ore could be easily and cheaply shipped to the huge smelter in Great Falls.

[25] The Panic of 1893 wiped out the area's mining economy, but the town continued to exist.

[11] After World War II, the rail spur was abandoned and the track removed.

Portions of Neihart have been abandoned, and ghost town ruins can be seen in the city's outer limits,[9] among them being Wu Tang's former laundry and drug store.