Water rights often decide what a ranch in Carbon County is worth and how much hay and grass it can grow. Before you buy, lease or irrigate ground here, check the Carbon County water rights tied to it with the tools below. For current snowpack, drought and cattle movement, see the Carbon County, Montana page; statewide rules are at the Montana DNRC water rights site.
Water Rights & Land Ownership
Carbon County sits at the foot of the Beartooth Mountains in Montana’s south-central corner — Red Lodge at the head of Rock Creek, the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone draining the highest country in the state, and the Pryor Mountains rising in the east toward the Crow Reservation boundary. Most ranch operations sit on the Clarks Fork main-stem and its tributaries (Rock, Bear, Bridger, Sage) or on the Pryor Creek drainage east of Bridger.
Combine the DNRC WRQS water-rights record with the Montana Cadastral using the 17-digit geocode that links them.
Active rights pulled live from DNRC WRQS on 2026-06-01. Carbon spans eight basins: 43N (Clarks Fork main), 43P (Pryor Cr.), 43Q/43QJ (Yellowstone), 43B/43C/43D (Upper Yellowstone and tributaries), 40A on the north margin.
Carbon County Watershed Map
The Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone enters from Wyoming in the SW corner, drops through Belfry, Bridger, and Edgar, and joins the Yellowstone main-stem just outside the county. Rock Creek drops out of the Beartooths through Red Lodge to join the Clarks Fork at Roberts. Pryor Creek heads in the Pryors and flows north toward Pryor (Big Horn County).
Search Carbon County water rights
- Water right format:
- 43N 12345 00 (Clarks Fork) · 43P (Pryor) · 43Q (Yellowstone main).
- Primary basins:
- 43N Clarks Fork · 43P Pryor Creek · 43Q/43QJ Yellowstone main · 43B/43C/43D Upper Yellowstone · 40A north.
- Wyoming-origin water:
- Clarks Fork headwaters are in Wyoming — interstate water management matters in dry years.
- DNRC regional office:
- Billings Regional Office, 406-247-4415.
- Clerk & Recorder:
- Carbon County, 406-446-1370.
Irrigated Acres — USDA Census
Carbon County reported 65,049 irrigated acres in the 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture, down from 98,757 in 2017 — a change of −33,708 acres (−34.1%). These are acres that actually received irrigation in the census year, not all land equipped for irrigation.
Source: USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture, Table 10 (irrigated land, acres). See the Measuring Montana Moisture overview →
Quick links
Data sources: Montana DNRC, MSL/DOR Cadastral, MBMG GWIC. Active rights pulled live from DNRC WRQS on 2026-06-01. Informational only.