2020 Map of Michigan West

About this map

Michigan City and the nearby settlement of Mapes anchor this Nelson County landscape, illustrating a classic High Plains settlement pattern defined by the Public Land Survey System. The area is characterized by numerous prairie potholes and wetlands, including McHugh Slough, Fiske Lake, and the larger Lake Laretta, which borders Rose Lake to the south. These water bodies are scattered across a grid of section lines and township boundaries such as t153n r59w and t154n r58w. A well-developed network of rural roads, including Mapes Rd, Co Rd 22, and Co Rd 8, facilitates travel between the small communities and the surrounding agricultural tracts. The map captures the enduring rural character of this North Dakota region, where local geography is inextricably linked to the systematic division of the land and the preservation of native wetlands.