Published in 1967 from 1965 survey work, the USGS topographical map titled “Bonners Ferry” captures a northern Idaho landscape poised between settlement, river corridor, and mountain wilderness. At 1:24,000 scale, it presents Bonners Ferry and its surrounding terrain with the clarity and precision characteristic of mid-twentieth-century Geological Survey mapping. The city appears in close relationship with the great bend and flow of the Kootenai River, a defining natural feature of the region. Roads, secondary routes, drainage patterns, and named localities are set within a carefully modeled terrain of valleys, benches, and wooded heights, offering a richly detailed view of the area before later decades of development altered portions of its built and natural environment.

Bonners Ferry occupies a historically important position in the far north of Idaho, near the Canadian border and within a landscape long shaped by travel, timber, agriculture, and river commerce. The Kootenai River, shown meandering through the map, has been central to the region’s identity: a routeway, a source of fertile lowland, and a powerful agent in sculpting the valley. The surrounding benches and uplands, including North Bench, reveal the layered character of the terrain, where settlement gives way quickly to forest, hill country, and more remote watersheds. This is a map of transition—between town and wilderness, cultivated land and mountain slope, engineered roadways and the older logic of water and elevation.

The United States Geological Survey brought a distinctive discipline to maps such as this, combining field observation, aerial survey, and standardized symbology to create documents of both practical use and enduring historical value. Founded in 1879, the USGS became the nation’s authoritative mapper of terrain, water, mineral resources, and geological structure. By the 1960s, its quadrangle maps were indispensable tools for engineers, planners, hikers, foresters, and resource managers. In “Bonners Ferry,” that institutional purpose is visible in every contour, road classification, and stream course. The map is not merely a depiction of place, but a federal portrait of landscape intelligence, made at a moment when postwar America was increasingly measuring, managing, and modernizing its rural frontiers.

Cartographically, the sheet is animated by the classic USGS visual language: green areas indicating forested land, blue watercourses and wetlands, black cultural features, and brown contour lines that give the terrain its sculptural depth. The contouring is especially expressive, revealing the rise from the Kootenai River valley into surrounding hills and mountainous ground. Roads thread through the landscape with a practical geometry, while smaller local references, including grid-designated routes such as Rod’s Road, preserve traces of everyday movement and settlement. The result is a map with both technical rigor and visual elegance, where color and line work together to make elevation, drainage, and human occupation immediately legible.

As a historical snapshot, this 1960s view of Bonners Ferry records a landscape at a particular moment in its modern evolution. The map preserves the relationship between the town, its river, adjacent valleys, forested tracts, and the transport network that connected rural northern Idaho communities. It evokes an era when topographic mapping was central to land management and when places like Bonners Ferry still stood at the edge of expansive resource country. For collectors, the appeal lies in this fusion of precision and atmosphere: a scientifically made document that also conveys the quiet drama of a river valley, the surrounding relief of the mountains, and the enduring geography of Idaho’s far north.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Bonners Ferry
• Kootenai River
• North Bench
• Rod’s Road
• Adjacent valleys and forests
• Mountainous areas indicated by elevation contour lines
• Main and secondary roads
• Nearby watersheds

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the United States Geological Survey as a historical 1:24,000 topographical map
• Created in 1965 and published with a 1967 imprint
• Uses vibrant greens and blues to distinguish natural landscape features and water features
• Contour lines effectively represent elevation changes across the terrain
• Shows the landscape of the mid-1960s before later development altered parts of the area
• Highlights a diverse topographic character of valleys, hills, and surrounding natural terrain

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.