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 Interstate U.S. State Secondary Scenic ← 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

Northwest Iowa

Iowa 9 looking west in Larchwood

Iowa 9 enters Iowa from South Dakota as a continuation of South Dakota Highway 42. The highway's entry point is four and a half miles (7.2 km) east of Iowa's northwestern corner. It heads south and east through Lyon County until it reaches Larchwood. There, it turns south for about a mile (1.5 km) where it meets the northern end of Iowa 182. From here, the highway runs due east for twelve miles (19 km). During this straight stretch, it passes just to the south of Lester. Just west of Rock Rapids, it meets U.S. Highway 75 (US 75). The two routes overlap one another for one mile (1.6 km) as the travel through northern Rock Rapids. US 75 splits away to the south and Iowa 9 heads into downtown Rock Rapids, where it crosses the Rock River.

East of Rock Rapids, the highway follows a section line that is four and a half miles (7.2 km) south of the Minnesota state line. Halfway between Rock Rapids and Little Rock, Iowa 9 intersects the northern and southern legs of County Road L14, which were previously Iowa 91 and Iowa 339, respectively. The highway passes Little Rock to the south and enters Osceola County. It continues east for seven and a half miles (12 km) until it reaches an interchange with Iowa 60 north of Sibley, that highway's final exit before entering Minnesota. Shortly thereafter, Iowa 9 meets US 9. The highway eases to the south as it follows the section line. It passes to the north of Ocheyedan and to the south of Rush Lake and Harris.

As Iowa 9 enters Dickinson County, it goes south of Silver Lake and Lake Park. It crosses the western and eastern branches of the Little Sioux River, which converge just south of the highway. The intersection with Iowa 86 marks Iowa 9's entry into the Iowa Great Lakes region. It becomes a four-lane divided highway for a short distance as it curves slightly to the south. In northwestern Spirit Lake, Iowa 9 is joined by US 71 from the south and they travel east through the downtown area. The highways turn sharply to the northeast in order to cross a narrow portion of East Okoboji Lake. They briefly follow the shore before turning back to the east and exiting Spirit Lake. Four miles (6.4 km) east of town, US 71 turns to the north and Iowa 9 continues towards Superior. Iowa 9 enters Emmet County and curves to the southeast as it approaches Estherville. There, it crosses the West Fork Des Moines River and Iowa 4. It continues due east for fifteen miles (24 km). Just west of Armstrong, it dips to the south and enters the southern part of town. It is overlapped by Iowa 15 for two blocks, a mere 600 feet (180 m).

North Central Iowa

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.

Northeast Iowa

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	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Lyon	Sioux Township	0.000	0.000	SD 42 west – Sioux Falls, S.D.	Continuation into South Dakota
	Larchwood–Logan township line	7.263	11.689	Iowa 182 south – Inwood
	Riverisde–Rock township line	19.030	30.626	US 75 north – Luverne, Minn.	Western end of US 75 overlap
	Rock Rapids	20.021	32.221	US 75 south (Union Street) – Sioux Center	Eastern end of US 75 overlap
Osceola	Wilson–East Holman township line	43.270	69.636	Iowa 60 – Sibley, Worthington, Minn.
		46.812	75.337	US 59 – Sanborn, Worthington, Minn.
Dickinson	Diamond Lake–Lakeville township line	70.095	112.807	Iowa 86 – Milford, Lakefield, Minn.
	Spirit Lake	72.898	117.318	US 71 south	Western end of US 71 overlap
	Superior–Richland township line	79.985	128.723	US 71 north – Jackson, Minn.	Eastern end of US 71 overlap
Emmet	Estherville	88.640	142.652	Iowa 4 (9th Street) – Emmetsburg, Sherburn, Minn.
	Armstrong	106.496	171.389	Iowa 15 south (4th Street) – Ringsted	Western end of Iowa 15 overlap
		106.611	171.574	Iowa 15 north (6th Street) – Fairmont, Minn.	Eastern end of Iowa 15 overlap
Kossuth	Harrison Township	119.995	193.113	US 169 south – Bancroft, Algona	Western end of US 169 overlap
	Lakota	126.407	203.432	US 169 north – Blue Earth, Minn.	Eastern end of US 169 overlap
Winnebago	Newton Township	149.787	241.059	US 69 north – Lake Mills	Western end of US 69 overlap
	Forest City	156.810	252.361	US 69 south – Garner	Eastern end of US 69 overlap
Worth	Danville Township	171.920	276.678	I-35 / Iowa 27 – Des Moines, Minneapolis
	Manly	178.931	287.962	US 65 (Orchid Avenue) – Northwood, Mason City
Mitchell	Osage	199.093	320.409	US 218 north (North 7th Street) – St. Ansgar	Western end of US 218 overlap
	Burr Oak Township	202.740	326.278	US 218 south – Floyd	Eastern end of US 218 overlap
Howard	Howard Center Township	229.659	369.600	US 63 – New Hampton, Rochester, Minn.
	Vernon Springs Township	240.645	387.281	Iowa 139 north – Harmony, Minn.
Winneshiek	Decorah	257.655	414.656	US 52 – Rochester, Minn.
Allamakee	Ludlow Township	271.230	436.502	Iowa 51 south – Postville
	Jefferson Township	275.898	444.015	Iowa 76 south – Marquette, Effigy Mounds National Monument	Western end of Iowa 76 overlap
	Waukon	277.903	447.242	Iowa 76 north (Main Street) – Eitzen, Minn.	Eastern end of Iowa 76 overlap
	Lansing	294.925	474.636	Iowa 26 / Great River Road north (2nd Street) – New Albin
Mississippi River		295.088	474.898	Black Hawk Bridge; Iowa–Wisconsin state line
Crawford	Town of Freeman			WIS 82 east – De Soto, Wis.	Continuation into Wisconsin
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.

Route map: Bing / Google