Minnesota State Highway 27 (MN 27) is a state highway in west-central and east-central

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 ...

, which runs from its intersection with MN 28 in Browns Valley and continues east to its interchange with Interstate 35 (I-35) in Moose Lake. For part of its route (23 miles), it runs concurrently with MN 65 in Kanabec and Aitkin counties between

Woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...

and Rice River Township.

Route description

MN 27 serves as an east–west route between Browns Valley, Wheaton,

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

, Long Prairie, Little Falls,

Mille Lacs Lake Mille Lacs Lake (also called Lake Mille Lacs or Mille Lacs) is a large but shallow lake in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is located in the counties of Mille Lacs, Aitkin, and Crow Wing, roughly 75 miles north of the Minneapolis-St. Paul m ...

, and Moose Lake. The western terminus for MN 27 is its intersection with MN 28 in Browns Valley, near the

–

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

state line at the

Little Minnesota River The Little Minnesota River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed October 5, 2012 headwaters tributary of the Minnesota River in northeastern South Dakota and west-centra ...

. The

Sam Brown Memorial State Wayside Sam Brown Memorial State Wayside is a historical park in Browns Valley, Minnesota, United States, established in 1929 to honor frontiersman Sam Brown (1845–1925). On April 19, 1866, Brown rode to warn other settlers of an impending attack by ...

Park is located at the western terminus of MN 27 in Browns Valley. MN 27 crosses the Broadway Bridge at 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 fl ...

in Little Falls. Charles A. Lindbergh State Park is located immediately south of MN 27 and Little Falls on the Great River Road (CR 52). Father Hennepin State Park is located on MN 27 at the southeast corner of Mille Lacs Lake, one mile (1.6 km) west of Isle. MN 27, together with MN 65, passes through the Solana State Forest in

Aitkin County Aitkin County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,697. Its county seat is Aitkin. Part of the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation is in the county. The county was created in 1857 and organized ...

History

Highway 27 was marked in 1934. It replaced part of former State Highway 10 between Wheaton and Herman and part of State Highway 54 from Herman to Roseville Township; the remainder consisted of either concurrencies or new highways authorized in 1933. At this time, it was paved from Wheaton to Herman, along its overlap with U.S. 52 from Alexandria to Osakis, and from its junction with State Highway 28 to Pierz. It was paved from Long Prairie to its junction with Highway 28 in 1938, and from U.S. 169 to then- State Highway 56 along the south side of

in 1939. In the early 1940s, paving was done along short segments west of Wheaton, east of Osakis, west of Lastrup, and west of Moose Lake. After the end of World War II, the remainder of the highway west of Mille Lacs Lake was paved in stages, with these portions complete by 1955. In 1958, the roadway was realigned; instead of turning northeastward to travel through

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, it continued directly east to intersect Highway 65 at a four-way junction with then-State Highway 66. Highway 27 was relocated in 1961 along the routing of former ''State Highway 66'' from State Highway 47 south of Isle to Highway 65 at Woodland. The 66 designation was simultaneously reused on another highway in Blue Earth County. Its former alignment from 47 to 65 was renumbered as part of

State Highway 18 Route 18, or Highway 18, may refer to: International * Asian Highway 18 * European route E18 * European route E018 Argentina * Australia * Waterfall Way Canada * Alberta Highway 18 * British Columbia Highway 18 * Manitoba Highway 18 * Ont ...

. Also in 1961, the highway was paved from the Aitkin-Carlton county line to the existing pavement near its crossing of the Kettle River. In 1970, the highway was extended through Moose Lake along former U.S. 61 and County Road 8 to an interchange with the newly built Interstate 35. The last remaining unpaved section, from Highway 65 to the Aitkin-Carlton county line, was paved in 1974. In 2012, Highway 27 was moved to overlap with I-94 from Alexandria to Osakis, with the old route turned over to Douglas County maintenance and renamed County Road 82. The highway was then routed along what had previously been State Highway 127 to connect with its existing alignment in Osakis.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Attached KML, display=title,inline}
Highway 27 at ''The Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page''

027 O scale (or O gauge) is a scale commonly used for toy trains and rail transport modelling. Introduced by German toy manufacturer Märklin around 1900, by the 1930s three-rail alternating current O gauge was the most common model railroad scal ...

Transportation in Traverse County, Minnesota Transportation in Grant County, Minnesota Transportation in Douglas County, Minnesota Transportation in Todd County, Minnesota Transportation in Morrison County, Minnesota Transportation in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota Transportation in Kanabec County, Minnesota Transportation in Aitkin County, Minnesota Transportation in Carlton County, Minnesota