Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Trails around and above the Old Penitentiary in Boise, Idaho


The picture shows the Old Penitentiary in Boise, seen from the botanical garden trail in the Lewis & Clark Nature Plant Garden. The construction of the prison began in 1870, seven years after Idaho became a new Territory of the United States. The first prisoners “helped” to construct some of the Penitentiary buildings. These and the enclosure walls were built from sandstone. You can walk through the quarries, where the sandstone was excavated. You'll find a network of trails, including the Old Stone Quarry Trail and Table Rock Trail, in the hills to the north and east of the Old Penitentiary and the Idaho Botanical Garden.

Source
Pamphlet 3-2005, entitled Table Rock Trails. This and other pamphlets informing about Idaho's dinosaurs, trilobites, and shale deposits are available at the Idaho Museum of Mining and Geology, 2455 Old Penitentiary Road, located at the right side of the Penitentiary in the picture (also see: www.idahomueum.org) .

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