1965 Map of Salmon Prairie

About this map

Swan River carves through the center of this 1960s survey, a landscape defined by the overlapping boundaries of the Flathead National Forest and the Swan River State Forest. The geography is characterized by a series of high-altitude meadows and drainages, including Squeezer Meadow, Simmons Meadow, and Woodward Meadow. Human presence is concentrated around the Swan Lake Campground and the Salmon Prairie area, while the surrounding timberlands are accessed by a network of unimproved roads and historical routes like the Lion Creek Trail. Small water bodies such as Van Lake and the seasonally fluctuating Dry Lake dot the terrain, illustrating the hydrologic complexity of the Swan Valley. A solitary Gravel Pit and the Swan Lake 12 Mi. State Forest Hdqrs point to the area's ongoing use for resource management and conservation.