Parks & Foothills

A Boise Day That Is Entirely Outdoors: How It Works

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Blue wayfinding signpost with park directions and a neighborhood map beside a lawn where a bicycle lies on the grass

A day entirely outdoors in Boise works because three systems sit next to each other and connect directly: the Boise River and its paved Greenbelt path, the city’s own foothills trail network, and a set of open-air institutions — a bird conservation campus, a former penitentiary’s grounds, a botanical garden — that don’t require stepping … Read more

Idaho Botanical Garden and the Old Penitentiary Grounds

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The Boise skyline at night

The Idaho Botanical Garden is a 15-acre collection of themed gardens on Old Penitentiary Road, east of downtown Boise, built on land that once belonged to the Idaho State Penitentiary. The wider “old prison grounds” now hold three distinct public sites side by side: the botanical garden, the Old Idaho Penitentiary museum, and open foothills … Read more

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