Iowa Highway 2 (Iowa 2) is a 251-mile-long (404 km) state highway which runs across the southernmost tier of counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. At no point along its route is Iowa 2 more than 15 miles (24 km) from the Missouri state line, except for a small section near its eastern terminus. Iowa 2 stretches across the entire state; from the Missouri River near Nebraska City, Nebraska, to U.S. Highway 61 (US 61) at Fort Madison. Prior to becoming a primary highway, the route was known as the Waubonsie Trail.

Quick Facts Route information, Length ...

Iowa Highway 2
Iowa 2 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Iowa DOT
Length	251.376 mi[1] (404.550 km)
Major junctions
West end	N-2 at Nebraska City, NE
Major intersections	I-29 near Percival US 71 at Clarinda I-35 near Decatur City US 65 near Humeston US 63 at Bloomfield US 218 / Iowa 27 at Donnellson
East end	US 61 at Fort Madison
Location
Country	United States
State	Iowa
Counties	Fremont Page Taylor Ringgold Decatur Wayne Appanoose Davis Van Buren Lee
Highway system
Iowa Primary Highway System Interstate US State Secondary Scenic
← Iowa 1 → Iowa 3

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Iowa Highway 2 begins at the Nebraska City Bridge just east of Nebraska City, Nebraska. It goes northeast and then east as an expressway until meeting Interstate 29. It then continues east as a two-lane highway until meeting U.S. Highway 275 and turning north. It continues north, bypassing Sidney with U.S. 275, and turning east of Sidney. It goes east and meets U.S. 59 at Shenandoah and then U.S. 71 at Clarinda, which is served with Business Route 2. It continues east through New Market and meets Iowa Highway 148 at Bedford. After intersecting Iowa Highway 25 east of Bedford, it passes through Benton before beginning an overlap with U.S. Highway 169 through Mount Ayr. After passing through Kellerton, Iowa 2 intersects Interstate 35 at Decatur City.

Iowa Highway 2 continues east through Decatur City and meets U.S. Highway 69 in Leon. It continues east and intersects U.S. Highway 65 before entering Corydon, where it intersects Iowa Highway 14. After passing through Promise City, it goes through Centerville, where it intersects Iowa Highway 5. It later intersects Iowa Highway 202 near Moulton and then begins a concurrency with U.S. Highway 63 which ends in Bloomfield.

After Bloomfield, Iowa Highway 2 turns southeasterly to pass through Pulaski, Milton, and Cantril, then turns briefly northeast. It turns east, intersects Iowa Highway 1 south of Keosauqua, then turns southeast towards Farmington. At Farmington, Iowa 2 meets Iowa Highway 81 and crosses the Des Moines River. It continues east and meets U.S. Highway 218 and Iowa Highway 27 at Donnellson. From there, it then meets U.S. Highway 61 and ends on the west side of Fort Madison.

The current Iowa Highway 2 was designated in 1920 as Primary Road No. 3 (PR No. 3). The 285-mile-long (459 km) route connected Nebraska City, Nebraska, to Burlington. PR No. 3 was overlaid upon the Waubonsie Trail from the Missouri River to Fort Madison. From Fort Madison, it overlapped the Mississippi Valley Scenic Highway, a precursor to the Great River Road.^[2] In 1941, the route had been renumbered Iowa 2 and the section between Fort Madison and Burlington was no longer part of the route.^[3]

The segment west of Interstate 29 was constructed as an expressway in 1986 with the plan of connecting Lincoln, Nebraska with Interstate 29 using a divided highway.

In late 2013, the Fort Madison city council accepted the jurisdiction of Iowa 2 within the city limits, which eliminated the last 5.8 miles (9.3 km) from the route.^[4][5]