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2011 Map of Little Bear Lake

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

USGS Topo · Published 2011

About this map

Little Bear Lake and the surrounding rangelands of Petroleum County define this landscape, where water management is central to the local geography. The map documents an intricate network of drainage and storage, featuring water bodies like McDonald Creek, Buffalo Creek, and Box Elder Creek alongside numerous man-made structures including Payola Dam, Brady Number 1 Dam, and US Number 38 Dam. These features illustrate the necessity of irrigation in this arid region, further evidenced by the Winnett Irrigation County Ditch traversing the terrain.

Infrastructure is sparse across the prairie, with Whites Coulee and Dry Creek cutting through the topography. Human presence is marked by isolated landmarks such as Cemetery Rd, which provides a specific point of interest for genealogists and local historians tracking family sites in this sparsely populated portion of Montana. The map serves as a detailed record of how ranchers and engineers have diverted and captured seasonal flows in a territory where every creek and coulee is named for its utility or its history.