In Iowa, US Route 169 runs north-south from Minnesota to Missouri, at a slightly more westward longitude than Interstate 35 and the state's central backbone. Though it mainly reaches minor rural communities, it's the main north-south highway through Fort Dodge and Winterset.  US Route 169's southern foray into Iowa occurs between Grant City, Missouri, and Redding, Iowa, about twenty miles west of Interstate 35.  From that crossing out of Missouri, US Route 169 heads north through Mount Ayr and Winterset.  At De Soto, US Route 169 passes through an interchange with Interstate 80 just west of Des Moines, so it can reach Adel and US Route 6.  US Route 169 keeps going north, jogging westerly for a bit along US Route 30 at Ogden.  At Fort Dodge, US Route 169 meets US Route 20 and the eastern end of Iowa Route 7.  After meeting Iowa Route 3 at Humboldt and meeting US Route 18 at Algona, US Route 169 heads for the Minnesota border south of Blue Earth, Minnesota.

My photo for US Route 169 in Iowa comes from Algona, at the four-way intersection where US Route 169 meets US Route 18. The guide assembly depicted faces east for westbound traffic on US Route 18. This photo was taken during a drive across northern Iowa in September 2019. A random freak rain shower, not predicted by weather forecasters, was wrapping up when I was taking this photo.
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