Iowa Highway 76 (Iowa 76) is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

located in northeastern

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, most of which is in

Allamakee County Allamakee County () is the northeasternmost county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,061. Its county seat is Waukon. History Allamakee County was formed on February 20, 1847. The derivation of the name is ...

. The highway connects

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to Eitzen, Minnesota via Waukon. It begins in McGregor at an intersection with U.S. Highway 18; the first of the route are signed as U.S. Highway 18 Business (US 18 Bus.). It crosses into Minnesota near Eitzen and continues as Trunk Highway 76.

Route description

Iowa Highway 76 begins as U.S. Highway 18 Business at U.S. Highway 18 west of

. The route descends into the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

valley along the northern border of

Pikes Peak State Park Pikes Peak State Park is a state park of Iowa, US, featuring a bluff overlooking the Upper Mississippi River opposite the confluence of the Wisconsin River. The park is operated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. It is nearly a thousa ...

and then turns into McGregor. Through McGregor, US 18 Bus. heads to the northeast towards the Mississippi River. Along the river, the highway is parallel to the

Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad The Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad is a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Before its purchase, it was the largest Class II railroad in the United States, operating across South Dakota and southern Minnesota in ...

(DM&E Railroad). For one mile (1.6 km), US 18 Bus. travels a narrow strip of land between the river and the bluffs where it passes the

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At Marquette, US 18 Bus. ends at the foot of the

Marquette–Joliet Bridge The Marquette–Joliet Bridge is a bridge crossing the Mississippi River, connecting Marquette, Iowa and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Local residents refer to the bridge as the Prairie Bridge or the Marquette Bridge; both terms are used equally. ...

, which carries US 18 to

Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin Prairie du Chien () is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,506 at the 2020 census. Its ZIP Code is 53821. Often referred to as Wisconsin's second oldest city, Prairie du Chien was esta ...

. At US 18, Iowa 76 appears for the first time and continues to the north. Between Marquette and the mouth of the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

, Iowa 76 runs parallel to the DM&E Railroad along the western bank of the Mississippi River. It turns inland near

Effigy Mounds National Monument Effigy Mounds National Monument preserves more than 200 prehistoric mounds built by pre-Columbian Mound Builder cultures, mostly in the first millennium CE, during the later part of the Woodland period of pre-Columbian North America. Numerous ...

, turning to the northwest towards Waukon. It passes near the

Yellow River State Forest Yellow River State Forest, (YRSF), is mostly forested land owned by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. It is located in the southeastern corner of Allamakee County, the most northeasterly of Iowa's counties. It is adjacent to the Upper M ...

and through the unincorporated community of Rossville. South of Waukon, Iowa 76 intersects Iowa 9. Eastbound Iowa 9 and northbound Iowa 76 head north together for two miles (3.2 km). At Main Street, the two highways split; Iowa 9 continues north while Iowa 76 heads west for a few blocks before turning north itself. From the western edge of Waukon, it travels north into the rolling hills of the

Driftless Area The Driftless Area, a topographical and cultural region in the American Midwest, comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois. Never covered by ice during the last ...

, an area of the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

which was untouched by glaciation in the last ice age. The highway descends into the

Upper Iowa River The Upper Iowa River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 13, 2011 tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwest of the United States. Its headwaters rise ...

valley where it crosses the Upper Iowa and its tributaries, Bear Creek and Waterloo Creek. Iowa 76 follows Waterloo Creek for until they near the unincorporated community of Dorchester. From Dorchester, the highway curves to the east and north, traveling to the

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

state line south of Eitzen.

History

Iowa Highway 76 was created in 1969 from a segment of

Iowa Highway 13 Iowa Highway 13 (Iowa 13) is a north–south highway in eastern Iowa. It has a length of . The southern terminus of Iowa Highway 13 is at U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) south of Bertram and southeast of Cedar Rapids. The northern terminus is ...

from Marquette to

. Iowa 13's northernmost were

truncate In mathematics and computer science, truncation is limiting the number of digits right of the decimal point. Truncation and floor function Truncation of positive real numbers can be done using the floor function. Given a number x \in \mathbb ...

d at a point west of

at its intersection with U.S. Highway 52. Iowa 13

overlap Overlap may refer to: * In set theory, an overlap of elements shared between sets is called an intersection, as in a Venn diagram. * In music theory, overlap is a synonym for reinterpretation of a chord at the boundary of two musical phrases * Ove ...

ped US 52 and US 18 for ; the remaining became Iowa 76. In 1989, Iowa 76 was extended to the south when a new bypass around McGregor was opened. US 18 was moved onto the bypass and the old road became Iowa 76, but was marked as U.S. Highway 18 Business. The only proof of Iowa 76 along US 18 Bus. are small Iowa 76 route markers above the mile markers.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Attached KML
End of Iowa 76 and Business US 18 (Clayton Co.)
at Iowa Highway Ends Transportation in Clayton County, Iowa 076 Transportation in Allamakee County, Iowa U.S. Route 18 076