Published in 1967 from 1957 mapping, the United States Geological Survey’s “Coeur D’Alene” presents northern Idaho in the precise, elegant language of mid-century American topography. At a 1:62,500 scale, the map centers on the city of Coeur d’Alene and the intricate landscape that surrounds it: lake country, forested ridges, river corridors, highways, settlements, and working land. Its traditional USGS styling—fine contour lines, careful hydrography, and color-coded land classifications—gives the sheet both scientific authority and visual richness. More than a navigational document, it is a measured portrait of a region poised between wilderness and development, capturing the Inland Northwest at a moment when roads, recreation, forestry, and expanding communities were reshaping the terrain.

The mapmaker, the United States Geological Survey, brought to this work nearly a century of institutional expertise in mapping the nation’s landforms and resources. Founded in 1879, the USGS became indispensable to engineers, foresters, miners, planners, and explorers by standardizing the depiction of elevation, drainage, transportation, and settlement across the American landscape. Here, that disciplined cartographic tradition is especially well suited to the Coeur d’Alene region, where water and relief define the human story. The contouring records the rise and fall of rolling hills and wooded slopes, while the blue tracery of rivers, lakes, bays, and inlets anchors the map in a landscape shaped by glacial and fluvial forces. It is a work of practical science with enduring historical grace.

Coeur d’Alene Lake dominates the composition, its long shoreline articulated through bays, points, islands, and coves that convey the complexity of northern Idaho’s lake country. Wolf Lodge Bay, Mica Bay, Shoemaker Bay, and Blackwell Island appear as distinctive landmarks along the water’s edge, each tying the map to a geography of travel, fishing, timber, and recreation. To the north and west, Hayden Lake and Twin Lakes broaden the hydrological character of the sheet, while the Spokane River marks an important outflow and corridor toward Washington. These water features were not merely scenic; they structured settlement, transportation, industry, and leisure. In the mid-twentieth century, the lakes and river valleys around Coeur d’Alene were already central to the region’s identity.

The populated places shown on the map reveal a landscape in transition. Coeur d’Alene itself appears as the principal urban focus, while Rathdrum and Post Falls signal the importance of neighboring communities along regional routes. State Highway 95 and Interstate 90 record the growing dominance of automobile travel and interstate connectivity, linking local settlements to broader commercial and recreational networks. E. B. Johnson Airport adds another layer to this infrastructure, reflecting the expanding mobility of the postwar era. Scattered roads, trails, and minor routes thread through valleys, forests, and hill country, suggesting both settled access and the persistence of rugged terrain. The map quietly documents how a once-remote resource landscape was being drawn ever more tightly into modern circulation.

Beyond its towns and roads, the map’s great appeal lies in its topographic character: dense forests, undulating uplands, ridges, valleys, and the margins of Coeur d’Alene National Forest. The contours allow the viewer to read the land almost physically, tracing the slopes that frame lakeshores and the drainage patterns that descend toward the Spokane River and Coeur d’Alene Lake. As a historical document, it preserves a mid-century view of land use and environmental structure before later waves of residential growth, tourism development, and changing forest management altered the region. For collectors, historians, and admirers of the Inland Northwest, this USGS map offers an unusually evocative synthesis of place, measurement, and memory.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Coeur d'Alene
• Rathdrum
• Coeur d'Alene Lake
• Spokane River
• Wolf Lodge Bay
• Mica Bay
• Hayden Lake
• Twin Lakes
• Blackwell Island
• Post Falls
• Coeur d'Alene National Forest
• Shoemaker Bay
• E. B. Johnson Airport
• State Highway 95
• Interstate 90
• Various trails and roads throughout the area
• Smaller geographical features, including valleys and hills

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
• Historical 1:62,500 topographical map of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and the surrounding area
• Dated 1957 with a 1967 imprint
• Uses a traditional topographic style with contour lines to show elevation changes
• Employs distinct colors to differentiate land use classifications
• Shows rolling hills, dense forests, rivers, and major water features
• Provides mid-20th-century insight into land use, development, land management, and environmental change in the region

Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.

Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.

Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. See personalised map examples.

Every piece is printed to museum-grade archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte paper. Choose an unframed map print, framed map or canvas using the finish options above. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.

With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.