2014 Map of Beck Lake

About this map

The alkaline lake country of Nebraska's Sandhills is depicted here in detail, showing a landscape defined by isolated water bodies and depressions. Large, shallow basins such as Beck Lake and Hills Lake dominate the central terrain, while the naming of Homestead Lake and School Section Lake points to the early 20th-century history of public land distribution and pioneer settlement in Garden County. The terrain is sparsely developed, with a rudimentary grid represented by Road No 155 and Road 124 providing the only clear terrestrial navigation between the numerous water bodies like Old Merrill Lake and Jordan Lake. This 2014 survey documents the persistence of these hydrologic features in a high-plains environment where water was the primary driver of both settlement and ranching boundaries.