IOWA HIGHWAY 9

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'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, 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 up and down, the highway largely follows a very straight east-west alignment.

Contents

Route Description

Lyon County

Osceola County

Dickinson County

Emmet County

Kossuth County

Winnebago County

Worth County

Mitchell County

Howard County

Winneshiek County

Allamakee County

References

Sources

Route Description

Lyon County

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

Osceola County

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.

Dickinson County

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.

Emmet County

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.

Kossuth County

Inside Kossuth County, it passes through Swea City. East of Swea City, tt is joined by U.S. Route 169. It passes north of Lakota, where US 169 turns north.

Winnebago County

Travelling through Buffalo Center in Winnebago County, takes a slight southwesterly dip to pass northeast of Thompson, then continues east, and then south to join U.S. Route 69 at the northern edge of Forest City where it again turns east.

Worth County

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

Mitchell County

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.

Howard County

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 soputh of Lime Springs, it crosses U.S. Route 63 before going right through Cresco. In the process, it crosses two tributaries of the Turkey River

Winneshiek County

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.

Allamakee County

In Allamakee County, the highway straightens out. Just east of the county line, Iowa Highway 51 meets its northen terminus. Running south of Waukon, then turns north through Waukon, briefly joined by Iowa Highway 76. North of Waukon, it curves north and east, into Lansing, through the valley of Clear Creek and downtown Lansing. Just before crossing the Mississippi, it meets the southern terminus of Iowa Highway 26. It then turns onto the Black Hawk Bridge, where it joins Wisconsin Highway 82.

References

1.

Sources

★ ''Iowa Atlas and Gazeteer'', 3rd edition, DeLorme, 2004.

★ ''2007 Transportation Map'', Iowa Department of Transportation, 2007.