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2011 Map of Black Hills

Name: 2011 Topographic Map of Black Hills
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 2011
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 2011

About this map

Black Hills dominates the central portion of this Garfield County landscape, characterized by an extensive network of ephemeral drainages and small-scale water management. The terrain is marked by significant erosion features such as Knudson Coulee and Badlands Coulee, where water runoff eventually feeds into Little Dry Creek and Lone Tree Creek.

Local ranching infrastructure is the primary human imprint on this stretch of Montana. Numerous earthen works and reservoirs, including the Smith Ranch Number 1 Dam, Aybee Dam, and Beecher Number 3 Dam, illustrate how the 21st-century cattle industry manages water in this semi-arid environment. Transportation is limited to a few local routes like West Little Dry Rd and Little Porcupine Rd, which connect the scattered ranching operations across the high plains.