2020 Map of Blacktail Coulee

About this map

Blacktail Coulee and the Wintering River dominate this segment of the North Dakota plains, where the landscape is defined by the sharp transition between level tablelands and the eroded drainages of the Missouri Plateau. This 2020 edition reveals the precise boundary line between Ward County and McHenry County, a divide that follows the section lines of the Public Land Survey System. The map shows a strictly organized rural infrastructure, with a grid of section-line roads like 32nd St N and 40th St N providing access to the open agricultural tracts. Scattered wetlands and depressions are concentrated around Bowers Coulee and Spring Cr, reflecting the region's glacial history and the modern-day importance of seasonal water management in the northern prairies.