Wayfarrow

Dovetail

Ghost town · Petroleum County, Montana

Davis Spring quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1985, 1:24,000)
Davis Spring quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1985, 1:24,000) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Dovetail is a ghost town in Petroleum County, Montana. It is one of 8 former communities in Petroleum County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 22nd among the 55 Montana counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Dovetail as a historical populated place on the Davis Spring topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 47.3439° N, 108.2073° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleDavis Spring
Elevation2,848 ft
Nearest living townWinnett, MT
Distance to it24.4 miles
GNIS feature ID1721605
Coordinates47.34388, -108.20734

Open the location on a map

Then and now

Drag the slider: the old USGS map on the left, the same ground from the air today on the right. Both cover the same 1.9-mile square centred on the recorded location.

Dovetail today, aerial view
Davis Spring quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1985, 1:24,000)

Left: Davis Spring quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1985, 1:24,000), U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection. Right: The same ground today: NAIP aerial imagery, USDA Farm Service Agency, National Agriculture Imagery Program (via USGS). Both public domain.

What's there now

Dovetail is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Winnett, MT (population 173), about 24.4 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 2,848 feet above sea level. The aerial view above shows what covers the ground today. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Dovetail?

Dovetail is in Petroleum County, Montana, at 47.3439, -108.2073.

How many ghost towns are in Petroleum County?

Petroleum County, Montana has 8 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-06.