Fort Peck Dam

Fort Peck Dam is a hydroelectric facility on the Missouri River in Montana, spanning over six kilometers wide and rising 76 meters high. The power plant contains five turbines and ranks as the largest hydraulically filled earthen dam in the United States.

Construction began in 1933 during the Great Depression and employed more than ten thousand workers at its peak in July 1936. Completion of the dam took place in the early 1940s and served originally for flood control and power generation.

The name Fort Peck comes from a fur trading post that once stood near the present dam site. Margaret Bourke-White photographed the concrete intake towers for the very first cover of Life magazine in 1936.

The visitor center offers exhibits about construction and operation of the facility along with information about viewing areas. Walks along the top of the dam provide views over the reservoir and surrounding prairie flatlands.

The reservoir Fort Peck Lake extends over 216 kilometers (134 miles) upstream and has a shoreline longer than the entire Pacific coast of California. The filling of the reservoir took several years after the dam was finished and created new habitats for fish and waterfowl.

Location: McCone County

Inception: 1933

Height: 76 m

GPS coordinates: 48.00280,-106.41600

Latest update: December 5, 2025 22:22