Iowa Highway 9

Iowa Highway 9
Route information
Maintained by Iowa DOT
Length:	295.088 mi[1] (474.898 km)
Existed:	1920[2] – present
Major junctions
West end:	SD 42 near Larchwood
	US 75 in Rock Rapids Iowa 60 near Sibley US 59 near Allendorf US 71 at Spirit Lake US 169 at Lakota US 69 at Forest City I-35 near Hanlontown US 63 near Saratoga US 52 in Decorah
East end:	WIS 82 in Lansing
Location
Counties:	Lyon, Osceola, Dickinson, Emmet, Kossuth, Winnebago, Worth, Mitchell, Howard, Winneshiek, Allamakee
Highway system
Iowa Primary Highway System Interstates U.S. Highways State Highways ← Iowa 8 Iowa 10 →

Iowa Highway 9 is the most northern of Iowa's east–west highways, traversing the entire northern tier of counties. It runs from the eastern terminus of South Dakota Highway 42 at the South Dakota border east of Sioux Falls, South Dakota near Benclare, to the Wisconsin border at Lansing where it continues as Wisconsin Highway 82. It is largely rural in character, bypassing any large city. Making a few dips north and south, the highway largely follows a very straight east–west alignment.

Route description

Iowa 9 looking west in Larchwood

Iowa Highway 9 enters from South Dakota as a continuation of South Dakota Highway 42, northwest of Larchwood in Lyon County. It runs south of Lester, at the northern edge of Rock Rapids and south of Little Rock. Crossing into Osceola County, Iowa Highway 60 crosses it just north and slightly west of Sibley. Continuing west, is runs to the north of Ocheyedan. Entering Dickinson County, the highway passes south of Silver Lake and then across the Little Sioux River, into Spirit Lake where it briefly joins U.S. Route 71. It dips southeasterly as it enters Emmet County, continuing into Estherville where it crosses Iowa Highway 4 and a tributary of the Des Moines River. Passing just south of Armstrong it has an intersection with Iowa Highway 15.

In Kossuth County, it passes through Swea City. East of Swea City, it is joined by U.S. Route 169. It passes north of Lakota, where US 169 turns north. Travelling through Buffalo Center in Winnebago County, takes a slight southwesterly dip to pass northeast of Thompson, continues east, and then south to join U.S. Route 69 at the northern edge of Forest City where it again turns east.

Iowa 9 follows US 69 for a few miles in Winnebago County

In Worth County, it travels past the northern edges of Fertile and Hanlontown, where it soon crosses Interstate 35. West of I-35, it passes through the south side of Manly.

In Mitchell County, it makes a straight run to and through Osage. It swings back north and resumes going west to Riceville, crossing the Wapsipinicon River in the process.

U.S. Route 218 and Iowa Highway 9 briefly overlap through Osage.

In Howard County, the highway makes a transition into the Driftless Area of Iowa, with progressively more rugged terrain evident as one travels east. West of Cresco, and south of Lime Springs, it crosses U.S. Route 63 before going through Cresco. In the process, it crosses two tributaries of the Turkey River.

The Black Hawk Bridge marks the eastern end of Iowa 9, the southern end of Iowa 26, and the western end of WIS 82.

In Winneshiek County, it runs southeasterly, straightening out to go through Decorah in the valley of the Upper Iowa River. In Decorah, it crosses U.S. Route 52. It again takes a southeasterly drift. In Allamakee County, the highway becomes crooked. Just east of the county line, Iowa Highway 51 meets its northern terminus. Running south of Waukon, it then turns north through Waukon, briefly joined by Iowa Highway 76. In the northern part of Waukon, it curves north and east, into Lansing, through the valley of Clear Creek and downtown Lansing. Just before crossing the Mississippi River, it meets the southern terminus of Iowa Highway 26. It then turns onto the Black Hawk Bridge, where it joins Wisconsin Highway 82.

Major intersections

County	Location	Mile[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Lyon	Sioux Township	0.000	0.000	SD 42
	Larchwood Township / Logan Township	7.263	11.689	Iowa 182 south
	Riverside Township / Rock Township	19.030	30.626	US 75 north	West end of US 75 overlap
	Rock Rapids	20.021	32.221	US 75 south (Union Street)	East end of US 75 overlap
Osceola	Wilson Township / East Holman Township	43.270	69.636	Iowa 60
		46.812	75.337	US 59
Dickinson	Diamond Lake Township / Lakeville Township	70.095	112.807	Iowa 86
	Spirit Lake	72.898	117.318	US 71 south	West end of US 71 overlap
	Superior Township / Richland Township	79.985	128.723	US 71 north	East end of US 71 overlap
Emmet	Estherville	88.640	142.652	Iowa 4 (9th Street)
	Armstrong	106.496	171.389	Iowa 15 south (4th Street)	West end of Iowa 15 overlap
		106.611	171.574	Iowa 15 north (6th Street)	East end of Iowa 15 overlap
Kossuth	Harrison Township	119.995	193.113	US 169 south / CR P40 north	West end of US 169 overlap
	Lakota	126.407	203.432	US 169 north	East end of US 169 overlap
Winnebago	Newton Township	149.787	241.059	US 69 north / CR A34 east	West end of US 69 overlap
	Forest City	156.810	252.361	US 69 south	East end of US 69 overlap
Worth	Danville Township	171.920	276.678	I-35 (Exit 203) / Iowa 27
	Manly	178.931	287.962	US 65 (Orchid Avenue)
Mitchell	Osage	199.093	320.409	US 218 north (North 7th Street) / CR T38 south (South 7th Street)	West end of US 218 overlap
	Burr Oak Township	202.740	326.278	US 218 south / CR T46 north	East end of US 218 overlap
Howard	Howard Center Township	229.659	369.600	US 63
	Vernon Springs Township	240.645	387.281	Iowa 139 north / CR W34 east
Winneshiek	Decorah	257.655	414.656	US 52
Allamakee	Ludlow Township	271.230	436.502	Iowa 51 south
	Jefferson Township	275.898	444.015	Iowa 76 south	West end of Iowa 76 overlap
	Waukon	277.903	447.242	Iowa 76 north (Main Street)	East end of Iowa 76 overlap
	Lansing	294.925	474.636	Iowa 26 / Great River Road north (2nd Street)
	Black Hawk Bridge	295.088	474.898	WIS 82
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

• Iowa Atlas and Gazeteer, 3rd edition, DeLorme, 2004.
• 2007 Transportation Map, Iowa Department of Transportation, 2007.