Powder River County, Montana Map
Explore Powder River County, Montana with this interactive street and satellite map. Browse all 2 cities and towns in Powder River County below.
Interactive Map of Powder River County, Montana
| County | Powder River |
| State | Montana (MT) |
| County Seat | Broadus |
| Country | United States of America |
| Latitude | 45.271655 |
| Longitude | -105.372908 |
| Cities & Towns | 2 |
| Area Codes | 406 |
About Powder River County, Montana
Powder River County occupies the southeastern corner of Montana, a vast expanse where the high plains begin their slow, inevitable climb toward the distant, serrated teeth of the mountains. The land here is defined by the steady, persistent work of the Powder River and the Tongue River, which carve deep, steep-walled coulees through layers of shale and sandstone. These waterways act as the lifeblood for a landscape dominated by broken badlands, scrubby pine-dotted ridges, and wide, sun-bleached prairies that stretch until the horizon blurs into a pale, heat-shimmering gray. In the late afternoon, the light turns a bruised gold, casting long, sharp shadows that emphasize the rugged, unforgiving geometry of the terrain, making the earth appear as if it were folded paper left out under an unrelenting sun.
Powder River County emerged from the expansive territories once claimed by the Northern Cheyenne and the Crow, forged later by the arrival of ranchers and homesteaders seeking space in a country that seemed to have no end. The establishment of the county seat occurred after a period of intense local contention, reflecting the singular, independent spirit of those who settled in such an isolated corner of the frontier. Men and women arrived here with little more than a string of horses and a stubborn resolve to survive winters that could snap iron and summers that baked the soil to a fine, alkaline dust. The architecture of the region reflects this history, with utilitarian structures built to withstand the wind, standing as stark, solitary monuments to a time when survival depended entirely on one’s own hands and the cooperation of a few scattered neighbors.
Life in Powder River County remains tied to the cycles of the cattle market and the growth of native grasses, a reality that dictates the pace of every day. People here speak in a shorthand born of long silences and the immense distance between porches, where the wind is the only constant companion. The economy turns on the health of the herd and the reach of the local oil and gas leases, yet the character of the place is defined by the quiet tenacity of those who stay when the rest of the world seems to be moving elsewhere. When the air turns crisp in the autumn, the scent of burning sagebrush drifts across the pastures, and the sky deepens into a bruised, indigo expanse that makes a human being feel remarkably small, temporary, and entirely at peace with the solitude of the plains.
Cities and Towns in Powder River County
About This Powder River County Map Page
This page provides an interactive map of Powder River County, Montana alongside links to detailed street maps for 2 cities and towns. The county seat is Broadus. Each city and town map page includes live weather, local news and precise GPS coordinates.
The Search Maps button below the county map opens USGS topographic maps and aerial imagery as base layers, with a labelled U.S. National Grid (USNG) overlay, a distance and bearing tool, and a single-fix GPS readout giving your USNG grid reference and latitude and longitude.
Location data is sourced from the USGS GNIS database and verified by coordinates, not name matching alone.
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Location data | USGS GNIS database; coordinates matched to 2020 US Census records |
