Milk River (Alberta–Montana)

The Milk River is a tributary of the Missouri River, 729mi long, in the United States state of Montana and the Canadian province of Alberta. Rising in the Rocky Mountains, the river drains a sparsely populated, semi-arid watershed of 23800mi2, ending just east of Fort Peck, Montana.GeographyIt is formed in Glacier County in northwestern Montana, 21mi north of Browning, Montana, by the confluence of its South and Middle forks. The 30mi long South Fork and 20mi long Middle Fork both rise in the Rocky Mountains just east of Glacier National Park, in the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. Much of the water in the North Fork is diverted from the St. Mary River through a canal and inverted siphon.The main stream flows east-northeast into southern Alberta, where it is joined by the North Fork of the Milk River, from there It flows past the town of Milk River and Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, then turns southeast into Montana, running east along the north side of the Sweetgrass Hills, turning south, passing through the Fresno Dam, then east past Havre and along the north side of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. Near Malta, it turns north, then southeast, flowing past Glasgow and joining the Missouri in Valley County, Montana, 5mi downstream from Fort Peck Dam.