2024 Map of Bear Creek Reservoir SE

About this map

Haystack Butte rises over a landscape defined by an intricate network of intermittent waterways along the border of Fergus and Petroleum counties. The drainage patterns of Blood Creek in the north and Sage Creek through the center illustrate the erosional character of the Montana plains. These prairie drainages, along with Bear Creek and Box Elder Creek further south, dictate the placement of local thoroughfares like Valentine Rd and Southworth Ln. This survey documents a contemporary view of the region's ranching infrastructure and section lines, where the vastness of the terrain is punctuated by small reservoirs and family-named routes such as Bauman Ln. The map effectively shows how early 20th-century land divisions under the Public Land Survey System continue to shape modern land use in this part of Montana.