{{Short description|State highway in Iowa, United States}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox road |state=IA |type=IA |route=26 |map={{maplink-road|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/Wikipedia KML/Iowa Highway 26}}}} |map_custom=yes |map_notes=Iowa 26 highlighted in red |tourist=20px|link=|alt= Great River Road<br>Driftless Area Scenic Byway |length_mi=11.370 |length_ref=<ref name=IowaDOT>{{IowaDOT|2010-01-06|year=2009}}</ref> |established=1969<ref name=DOT1970>{{cite IowaDOT map|year=1970|accessdate=January 6, 2011}}</ref> |direction_a=South |terminus_a={{Jct|state=IA|IA|9|WI|82}} at Lansing |direction_b=North |terminus_b={{Jct|state=MN|MN|26}} at New Albin |counties=Allamakee |previous_type=IA |previous_route=25 |next_type=AOTS |next_route=27 }} '''Iowa Highway 26''' ('''Iowa 26''') is a {{convert|11|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} state highway that runs from south to north in Allamakee County, Iowa. It begins in Lansing at an intersection with Iowa Highway 9 at the Black Hawk Bridge and ends at the Minnesota border at New Albin. It continues into Minnesota as Minnesota State Highway 26 (TH 26). Iowa 26 was created in 1969 in a numbering swap with Iowa Highway 182. The designation was changed to match TH 26. The highway is the northernmost leg of the Great River Road in Iowa. Most of the highway is designated the Driftless Area Scenic Byway.
==Route description== thumb|left|Aerial view of Lansing and the Mississippi River. Iowa 26 (top) can be seen here heading north along the western bank of the river. Iowa 26 begins at a T-intersection with Iowa 9 at the foot of the Black Hawk Bridge in Lansing. As a part of the Drifless Area Scenic Byway and Great River Road, it heads north nestled between the bluffs that tower {{convert|300|ft|m}} over the city and homes that line the Mississippi riverfront.<ref name="Driftless">{{cite web |url = http://www.iowadot.gov/iowasbyways/driftless.pdf |title = Driftless Area Scenic Byway |last = Iowa Department of Transportation |date = June 9, 2009 |accessdate = January 7, 2011 }}</ref><ref name="Iowa GRR">{{cite web |url = http://www.iowadot.gov/iowasbyways/great_river.pdf |title = Iowa Great River Road |last = Iowa Department of Transportation |date = June 30, 2009 |accessdate = January 8, 2011 }}</ref><ref name="ISU GIS Lansing">{{cite map|publisher=Iowa State University|title=Iowa Geographic Map Server – Lansing, Iowa|url=http://ortho.gis.iastate.edu/client.cgi?zoom=2&x0=644400&y0=4802936&layer=drg24&action=pan&pwidth=950&pheight=950&x=427&y=411|accessdate=January 6, 2011|scale=1 pixel = {{cvt|2|m2}}}}</ref> After exiting Lansing, the highway draws closer to the river and to the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad.<ref name="DOT Rail">{{cite IowaDOT map|year=RR|accessdate=January 6, 2011}}</ref>
The highway is dotted with houses as it continues north between the river and the bluffs. The bluffs were created during the last ice age when this region of the midwest was untouched by glaciers. The region is thus called the Driftless Area, referring to the lack of glacial drift, the material left behind by retreating continental glaciers.
{{convert|1+1/2|mi|km|spell=In}} south of New Albin, Iowa 26 crosses the Upper Iowa River and then intersects County Road A26, which takes the Driftless Area Scenic Byway west to Iowa 76. Through New Albin, it travels along Railroad Street, referring to the adjacent railroad. Heading northeast, it leaves the city, which is also the state line, crossing into Minnesota as Trunk Highway 26.<ref name="IowaDOT" />
==History== Prior to its current designation in 1969, there were two iterations of Iowa Highway 26. The first, Primary Road No. 26, was a short, {{convert|3|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} highway which, in the 1920s, connected Rock Valley to Primary Road No. 19 in northwestern Iowa.<ref name="GGM Rock Valley">{{Google maps|url=https://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=16th+Ave%2FCo+Rd+K30%2FMain+St&daddr=US-18+E%2F310th+St&hl=en&geocode=FcQtkwIdNKhC-g%3BFfoukwIdlI1D-g&gl=us&mra=mift&mrsp=1&sz=13&sll=43.19917,-96.23354&sspn=0.088597,0.154152&ie=UTF8&ll=43.203674,-96.243668&spn=0.354363,0.616608&z=11|title=Length of Primary Road No. 26|accessdate=January 7, 2011}}</ref><ref name="1921 Rand">{{cite map |publisher = Rand McNally |title = Official Auto Trails Map |year = 1921 |scale = 1:1,081,344 |page = 330-331 }}</ref>
The second Iowa 26 was created in the 1930s and served as a connector between U.S. Highway 18 at Inwood and Iowa 9 south of Larchwood. In 1969, the second iteration of Iowa 26 swapped designations with Iowa 182, as to match Minnesota's Trunk Highway 26.<ref name="DOT1970" />
==Major intersections== {{Jcttop|state=IA|county=Allamakee|length_ref=<ref name=IowaDOT />}} {{IAint |location=Lansing |mile=0.000 |road={{Jct|state=IA|IA|9|dir1=west|GRR||dir2=south|WI|82|dir3=east|name3=Black Hawk Bridge|location1=De Soto, Wis.|city2=Waukon}} }} {{IAint |location=New Albin |mile=11.370 |road={{Jct|state=MN|MN|26|dir1=north|GRR||dir2=north|city1=La Crescent}} |notes=Continuation into Minnesota }} {{Jctbtm}}
==See also== {{portal|U.S. Roads|Iowa}} * List of state highways in Iowa
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Attached KML}} {{commons category-inline|Iowa Highway 26}}
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