2021 Map of Tar Valley SW

About this map

The North Platte River dominates the southern portion of this landscape, its braided channels and wetlands flowing through a valley defined by early twentieth-century water management. Parallel to the river, the Lisco Canal and Belmont Canal represent the vital irrigation infrastructure that transformed this region of the Nebraska Panhandle into productive agricultural land. The map documents the stark boundary between the river valley and the rising, dissected uplands to the north, where a geometric grid of rural roads such as RD 137 and RD 86 provides access to the high plains. Along the eastern edge, the Morrill Co Garden Co boundary line marks the transition between these two Western Nebraska counties, reflecting the long-established township and range surveying system that governs the division of this prairie terrain.