The Milk River has inspired awe for millennia, evidenced by its remarkable collection of ancient rock art framed by the evocative landscape of the badlands. The river is the lifeblood of the valley, both for the ranchers who irrigate its waters for survival and for the myriad of species that call the prairies home. The 1173 kilometre-long river has its source in Montana, snakes into Alberta and then curves gently eastward, where it finally meets the Missouri River. The river flows through the Canadian Dry Belt, where precipitation is as low as 200 mm a year and temperatures of 38 degrees are common. The Milk River, in the extreme southeastern corner of Alberta, is the only river in Canada that flows into the Gulf of Mexico basin.