“Boise South” is a finely detailed U.S. Geological Survey topographic map of Idaho’s capital and its southern surroundings, created in 1972 and carrying a 1994 imprint. At the precise 1:24,000 scale favored by hikers, planners, engineers, and land managers, it presents Boise not as an abstract city plan, but as a lived landscape of streets, transport corridors, river bottomlands, and rising terrain. The map captures a moment when Boise was expanding beyond its older urban core, with neighborhoods, roads, and civic infrastructure set against the broader physical framework of the Treasure Valley. Its historical value lies in this layered portrait: a city in motion, recorded with the disciplined clarity of federal cartography.

The U.S. Geological Survey brought to “Boise South” the visual language that made its quadrangle maps indispensable across the United States. Color-coded symbols distinguish urban development, watercourses, vegetation, roads, railways, and relief, while contour lines give the sheet its essential three-dimensional intelligence. These curves and intervals translate the terrain surrounding Boise into a readable pattern of slope, valley, and upland, showing how the city occupies a transitional zone between irrigated lowlands and the foothill country beyond. The result is both practical and elegant: a map made for navigation and analysis, yet rich in the quiet graphic beauty of measured landforms and carefully selected detail.

Boise itself appears as the principal human feature, with its street grids, neighborhoods, and infrastructure arranged across the map in relation to the Boise River and the open lands around it. The Boise Municipal Airport is an especially notable landmark, reflecting the growing importance of air travel and regional connectivity in the late twentieth century. Major roads and rail lines trace the arteries of movement through the city, revealing how transportation shaped Boise’s expansion and linked it to the wider Intermountain West. Parks, reserves, and less-developed tracts offer contrast to the urban pattern, suggesting the balance between metropolitan growth and the natural setting that has long defined the city’s appeal.

The Boise River gives the map a strong geographic axis, its course shaping settlement, transportation, and land use across the southern part of the city. Around it, the USGS depiction of drainage, elevation, and open space hints at the environmental systems that underlie Boise’s urban form. The surrounding foothills and adjacent uplands are rendered through closely spaced contours, making visible the changes in grade that frame the valley. These topographic details are more than technical marks: they reveal why roads bend, neighborhoods cluster, and open lands remain undeveloped. In this way, the map presents Boise as a city intimately tied to water, relief, and the constraints of place.

As a historical document, “Boise South” offers a compelling snapshot of the city in the early 1970s, before later decades of rapid suburban growth further transformed the region. Its mapped streets, airport grounds, rail alignments, and undeveloped edges invite comparison with the modern city, showing where Boise has filled in, expanded outward, or preserved open landscapes. The USGS’s meticulous approach gives this record enduring authority, making it useful not only for geographic reference but also for understanding patterns of urban development, environmental change, and land management. It is a portrait of Boise at a particular threshold: modern, growing, and still visibly shaped by the valley and foothills around it.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Boise, Idaho
• Boise Municipal Airport
• Various neighborhoods within Boise
• Boise River
• Proximity to the foothills and associated topography
• Urban areas depicted with street layouts and infrastructure
• Nearby parks and natural reserves
• Major roads and railways running through the region
• Contours reflecting mountainous areas adjacent to Boise

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the U.S. Geological Survey, this historical 1:24,000 topographical map shows Boise, Idaho and the surrounding area.
• Created in 1972 and published with a 1994 imprint.
• The U.S. Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the U.S. government tasked with studying and mapping the natural resources and natural hazards of the United States.
• USGS topographic maps have been important tools for land management, environmental stewardship, outdoor activities, and land-use planning.
• The map uses a clear, color-coded system to indicate different land features and elevations.
• Contour lines represent topography, showing elevation changes and terrain variations such as hills and valleys surrounding Boise.
• The map offers a snapshot of Boise’s geographic layout in the early 1970s, illustrating urban development, land use, and natural features that may have changed over time.

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.