page_title: Iowa Highway 173
section_title: Route description
hierarchical_section_title: Iowa Highway 173 / Route description
caption_attribution_description: Old windmill, imported from Denmark, now in Elk Horn Iowa (at 4038 Main Street). This was rebuilt in Elk Horn - by Danish ancestry folks and others, about 1960.
context_page_description: Iowa Highway 173 is a 14-mile-long state highway in western Iowa. It begins at Iowa 83 northwest of Atlantic and ends at Iowa 44 in Kimballton. Iowa 173 connects Elk Horn and Kimballton, two small towns with tributes to their residents' Danish heritage. From its intersection with Interstate 80 north to Iowa 44, Iowa 173 is designated as part of the Western Skies Scenic Byway. Designated in 1930, the highway was originally a spur route into Elk Horn from Kimballton. The route was lengthened to its current extent in 1980.
context_section_description: Iowa 173 begins at an intersection with Iowa 83 three miles (4.8 km) northwest of Atlantic.  It heads north through rural Cass County and intersects Interstate 80 (I-80) at a partial cloverleaf interchange.  Just north of the Interstate Highway, the route enters Shelby County.  Further north, Iowa 173 passes through Elk Horn along Main Street where an authentic Danish windmill greets visitors to the Iowa welcome center.
  North of Elk Horn, the highway curves to the west along the Shelby–Audubon county line and then back to the north.  It continues north for three miles (4.8 km) until it reaches Kimballton, where it also runs along Main Street.  Near its northern end at Iowa 44, Iowa 173 passes a replica of The Little Mermaid, a tribute to the town's Danish heritage.  The section of Iowa 173 from I-80 north to Iowa 44 is part of the 140-mile-long (230 km) Western Skies Scenic Byway.
caption: Iowa 173 passes the Danish Windmill in Elk Horn
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