Northwood Iowa Map
Explore Northwood, Iowa, with this interactive street and satellite map.
This page also offers TOPO MAPS — the official USGS topographic sheets — plus USGS aerial imagery, a labelled USNG grid overlay, a distance and bearing tool, and a GPS grid-reference readout. See How to Use This Map below.
Interactive Map of Northwood, Iowa
How to Use This Northwood, Iowa Map
This interactive map shows the street layout and satellite imagery for Northwood, Iowa. Use the Map and Satellite buttons above to switch between street map and aerial imagery views. Use the + and − buttons to zoom in or out, or scroll your mouse wheel while holding the Control key to zoom. On a touchscreen, use a two-finger pinch gesture. Drag the map to pan to any area of Iowa or beyond.
Click ⛶ Fullscreen to expand the map to fill your screen. To return to the normal page view, press the Escape key, click the ✕ Exit Fullscreen button that appears above the map, or on a mobile device tap the back button (Android) or the close icon (iOS).
TOPO MAPS — NEW. Click the green 🔍 Search Maps button below the map to open a second map with a Base map row offering three choices. OSM is the standard OpenStreetMap street map. Topo shows the official USGS topographic maps from The National Map — contours, hydrography, land cover and shaded relief, the same mapping used for hiking, hunting and back-country navigation in the Adirondacks, the Catskills and the Finger Lakes. Imagery shows USGS aerial photography, mostly 1-metre NAIP. The search box finds any US town, county or landmark by name, so you are not limited to Northwood.
Reading the map like a paper quad. Click Grid to overlay the U.S. National Grid (USNG), labelled along the edges exactly as a printed topographic sheet is — at normal zoom the squares are one kilometre across, so you can read a six-figure grid reference by eye and judge distance directly off the map. Click Measure, then tap two points, to get the distance between them together with the grid bearing in degrees and mils, the true bearing, and the magnetic bearing to set on a compass.
Click 📍 My position to take a single GPS reading from your device. It marks where you are and reports your position as a USNG grid reference as well as plain latitude and longitude — USNG being the format FEMA and US search and rescue teams work from — with a Copy position button so you can paste it straight into a text message. It takes one reading and stops, rather than tracking continuously, to conserve your battery. Note that map tiles need cell coverage, but a GPS reading does not — your coordinates stay correct even where the map itself cannot load.
| City | Northwood |
| State | Iowa (IA) |
| County | Worth County |
| Country | United States of America |
| Timezone | Central Time (America/Chicago) |
| Latitude | 43.444124 |
| Longitude | -93.221037 |
| Population | 2,072 |
| Density | 200.7 /km² |
| Incorporated | Yes |
| ZIP Code | 50459 |
| Area Code | 515 |
| County Seat | Northwood |
| School District | Northwood-Kensett Community School District |
About Northwood, Iowa
Northwood is a locality in Worth County, Iowa, United States. It has a population of approximately 2,072. The population density is 200.7 people per km². Northwood is located at 43.4441°N, 93.2210°W. It observes the Central Time (America/Chicago) timezone. Northwood is an incorporated locality. ZIP code: 50459.Northwood occupies a wide expanse of northern Iowa where the Shell Rock River carves a deliberate, winding path through the heavy, dark soil. It lies 20.1 miles north of Mason City, IA (from Mason City, IA: bearing 357°T), and is situated 19.7 miles southwest of Austin. The horizon here is a vast, open dialogue between the earth and the sky, defined by the relentless geometry of tilled fields that stretch toward the edges of the world. Beyond the cultivated rows, the landscape softens into the quiet density of Hartland Forest, a five-mile reach of timber that breaks the monotony of the plains. At twilight, the light catches the sediment in the river, turning the water into a ribbon of hammered copper that flows past the quiet, steady rhythm of the landscape.
Agriculture remains the primary pulse of Northwood, grounding the local economy in the seasonal cycle of planting and harvest that has defined this region for generations. Settlers of Scandinavian and German descent shaped the early character of the area, leaving behind a legacy of pragmatic industry and a reserved, literate civility that persists in the quiet streets. Residents often look toward the geologic history laid bare at Kuennen 15 Quarry, where the layers of the earth are exposed in stark, rugged relief. Life here moves with a deliberate pace, disconnected from the frenetic energy of larger centers, allowing the inhabitants to observe the subtle shifts of the prairie seasons as they unfold across the flat, fertile ground.
Nearby Outdoor Places
- Worth County Historical Museum (Museum) — 0.1 mi, 102° E
- Swensrud School Museum (Museum) — 0.1 mi, 106° E
- Kuennen 15 Quarry (Local Park) — 2.1 mi, 164° S
- Stimes Woods (Local Conservation Area) — 2.2 mi, 244° SW
- Ochee Yahola Park (Local Park) — 3.2 mi, 322° NW
- Worth County Waterfowl Production Area (Resource Management Area) — 3.8 mi, 322° NW
- Panicum Prairie (Local Conservation Area) — 4.3 mi, 320° NW
- Panicum Prairie State Wildlife Management Area (State Conservation Area) — 4.5 mi, 329° NW
- Elk Creek Marsh Wildlife Management Area (State Conservation Area) — 5.2 mi, 215° SW
- Elk Creek Marsh Waterfowl Production Area (State Resource Management Area) — 6.2 mi, 235° SW
- Minnesota Welcomes You (Monument) — 7.8 mi, 302° NW
- Thanks for Visiting Minnesota (Monument) — 7.9 mi, 301° NW
- Myrtle Museum (Museum) — 8.8 mi, 019° N
- Freeborn County Waterfowl Production Area (Resource Management Area) — 10.0 mi, 300° NW
- Hanlontown Slough Waterfowl Production Area (State Resource Management Area) — 10.6 mi, 221° SW
- Manly Caboose Museum (Museum) — 11.1 mi, 173° S
- Rock Island Caboose (Monument) — 11.1 mi, 175° S
- Myre-Big Island State Park (State Park) — 12.5 mi, 344° N
- Rice Lake State Park (State Park) — 14.6 mi, 253° W
- Freeborn County Historical Society Museum (Museum) — 16.4 mi, 335° NW
- Buddy Holly Crash Site (Public Artwork) — 17.4 mi, 208° SW
- Mall Cinema 7 Theatre (Cinema) — 17.8 mi, 338° N
- Brewery (Historic Ruins) — 18.0 mi, 175° S
- Winnebago Trail (Nature Reserve) — 18.8 mi, 176° S
- Summerset Theater (Theatre) — 19.6 mi, 035° NE
- Rancho Deluxe (Attraction) — 20.1 mi, 176° S
- Mason City Communit Theatre (Theatre) — 20.4 mi, 177° S
- Watts Theater (Cinema) — 23.4 mi, 118° SE
- Odvin Hagen Music Center (Arts Centre) — 24.5 mi, 239° SW
- Old Mill (Historic Ruins) — 41.7 mi, 312° NW
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About This Northwood Map Page
This page provides an embedded street and satellite map of Northwood, Iowa. Coordinates: 43.444124, -93.221037. Live weather conditions are sourced directly from the National Weather Service. Real-time local and world news feeds keep the page current.
Detailed location data for Northwood includes the ZIP code (50459), telephone area code (515), county seat of Worth County (Northwood), and school district assignment (Northwood-Kensett Community School District).
Search Maps opens a second, independent map. It searches OpenStreetMap for any US town, county or landmark by name; offers USGS topographic maps and USGS aerial imagery as base layers; overlays a labelled U.S. National Grid (USNG) so the map can be read like a printed topographic quad; measures distance and grid, true and magnetic bearings between any two points; and takes a single GPS fix reporting your position as a USNG grid reference and as latitude and longitude. Map tiles require cell coverage, but a GPS position does not, so the coordinates remain correct even where the map cannot load.
Location data is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and cross-verified against 2020 US Census records by coordinate proximity. Population figures are sourced from the 2020 US Census.
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Location data | SimpleMaps US Cities Database; coordinates matched to USGS GNIS definitive data |
| Map layers | Google Maps; © OpenStreetMap contributors; USGS The National Map topographic and aerial imagery (public domain); magnetic declination from NOAA NCEI (World Magnetic Model) |
| Wikipedia validation | Article content matched to USGS GNIS coordinates via Wikipedia geosearch API. |
