The Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway is a named road connecting historic areas that relate to the life of author Laura Ingalls Wilder, best known for writing '' Little House on the Prairie''. The highway was first designated in 1995 as

U.S. Route 14 U.S. Route 14 (abbreviated U.S. 14 or US 14), an east–west route, is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It currently has a length of 1,398 miles (2,250 km), but it had a peak length of 1,429 miles (2,300 km). For ...

from Lake Benton in southwest Minnesota to

Mankato Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the state of Minnesota. The population was 44,488 according to the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Minnesota, and the 5th-largest outside of the Minnea ...

in the south-central part of the state. Since then, it has been extended into South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Within Minnesota, the highway is primarily made up of US 14 from the South Dakota border eastward to Rochester at

U.S. Route 63 U.S. Route 63 (US 63) is a , north–south United States Highway primarily in the Midwestern and Southern United States. The southern terminus of the route is at Interstate 20 (I-20) in Ruston, Louisiana; the northern terminus is at US ...

. A branch extends north on 63 to Lake City, Minnesota where it briefly runs along

U.S. Route 61 U.S. Route 61 or U.S. Highway 61 (U.S. 61) is a major United States highway that extends between New Orleans, Louisiana and the city of Wyoming, Minnesota. The highway generally follows the course of the Mississippi River and is designated ...

before following Minnesota State Highway 60 to the Wisconsin border. From Rochester, the highway also runs south along US 63 until the intersection with

Minnesota State Highway 16 Minnesota State Highway 16 (MN 16) is a two-lane highway in southeast Minnesota, which runs from its interchange with Interstate Highway 90 in Dexter and continues east to its eastern terminus at the Wisconsin state line concurrent with U.S. H ...

near Spring Valley. From there, it turns east until meeting

U.S. Route 52 U.S. Route 52 (US 52) is a major United States highway in the central United States that extends from the northern to southeastern region of the United States. Contrary to most other even-numbered U.S. Highways, US 52 primarily follows ...

near

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

, following that road to the Iowa border.

External links

Minnesota Statutes §161.14
– Subd. 29 defines the route of the highway in Minnesota {{Little House Historic Highway, Laura Ingalls Wilder Roads in Minnesota Laura Ingalls Wilder U.S. Route 14 U.S. Route 63 U.S. Route 61 U.S. Route 52