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2014 Map of Sage Lake

Name: 2014 Topographic Map of Sage Lake
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 2014
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 2014

About this map

Gildford sits at the western edge of this Hill County landscape, where the high plains are defined by a network of drainage channels and ephemeral water bodies. The geography is dominated by distinct coulees, including Alkali Coulee, Alkali Lakes Coulee, and Wild Rose Coulee, which carve through the terrain and direct seasonal runoff. The namesake Sage Lake and Sage Lake Coulee occupy the central portion of the map, illustrating the importance of local basins in this semi-arid region.

A systematic road network, including Us-2, corridors the area, following the rigid Public Land Survey System lines that define property and township boundaries. This 2014 survey documents the persistence of small-scale water features like Sage Cr in a landscape primarily utilized for large-block agriculture and ranching. The layout of these named coulees provides a clear view of the natural hydrology that has influenced settlement patterns and land use in northern Montana for generations.