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2011 Map of Hessey Lake

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

USGS Topo · Published 2011

About this map

The isolated sandhills of Garden County define this corner of western Nebraska, where high-plains ranching and a series of wind-formed lakes create a distinct rural landscape. The area is anchored by local operations like the Young Ranch and the Pawlet Ranch, the latter of which includes the private Pawlet Ranch Airport runway along the edge of the dunes. A north-south route, Lakeside RD, provides the primary access through this sparsely populated territory, connecting the various livestock spreads.

Water is the dominant topographic feature, manifested in numerous shallow basins scattered across the terrain. These include larger bodies like Wolf Lake and the eponymous Hessey Lake, alongside smaller waterholes such as Mud Hole Lake, Shafer Lake, and Black Steer Lake. This distribution of water across an otherwise arid-looking landscape reveals the vital relationship between the Ogallala Aquifer and the surface features required for sustaining the cattle ranches that have shaped the region for generations.