Traveling nearly 500 miles up the Florida Peninsula from Miami to the Georgia state line at Darsey, U.S. 27 was a nationally important route bringing traffic from the Great Lakes to South Florida. Supplanted by Interstate 75 or overdeveloped with suburban expansion, U.S. 27 remains a regional route in the state as it angles southeast from Havana in Gadsden County to Tallahassee and the Big Bend of Florida. East from the capital city, U.S. 27 shares a 29.21 mile overlap with U.S. 19 from Capps to Perry. There U.S. 27 turns east to Mayo, Branford and Fort White while U.S. 27 Alternate runs concurrent with U.S. 19/98 south to Cross City, Old Town and Chiefland. The alternate route reconvenes with U.S. 27 to the east of Bronson at Williston.
Within the city of High Springs in Alachua County, U.S. 27 resumes a southern heading, combining with U.S. 41 for 33.48 miles through Newberry, Archer and Williston. U.S. 41 stays to the west from there, serving coastal cities while U.S. 27 bends easterly to Ocala. Once in Downtown Ocala, U.S. 301/441 join U.S. 27 south to Belleview in southern Marion County.
U.S. 301 splits with U.S. 27/441 from Belleview to Wildwood while U.S. 27/441 remain cosigned southeast to Lady and Leesburg in Lake County. The terrain becomes more hilly as the route parallels Florida's Turnpike southeast to Minneola and Clermont. Within this region is Sugarloaf Mountain, the tallest point on the Florida peninsula.
Staying to the west of Orlando, U.S. 27 was originally a viable through route with four overall lanes amid rural settings. Suburban development from Clermont south to Four Corners and Haines City however replaced wide open stretches of roadway with a slower moving arterial dotted with traffic lights. That theme continues southward through east Polk County to Dundee and Lake Wales. Along this stretch was another U.S. 27 Alternate, an older two lane alignment of U.S. 27 meandering to the east to Frostproof into the early 2000s.
Southward into Highlands County, U.S. 27 reaches Avon Park and Lake Jackson at Sebring. U.S. 98 combines with U.S. 27 for 40.06 miles from near West Frostproof south to near De Soto City. Beyond U.S. 98 to Lake Placid, U.S. 27 becomes more rural, generally serving agricultural interests southward into Glades County. Once at Palmdale, the US highway turns easterly again, gradually approaching the city of Moore Haven and the periphery of Lake Okeechobee.
A 90 degree turn takes U.S. 27 south from Moore Haven to State Road 80 and another turn east to Clewiston on the south side of Lake Okeechobee. The two routes overlap east from Hendry County toward Belle Glade, with the levee system of the lake coming into view along the drive. U.S. 27 drops south from the lake and SR 80 at South Bay across sugarcane fields to the northern reaches of the Everglades and Interstate 75 (Alligator Alley) at Andytown.
Hugging the western extent of built up Broward County, U.S. 27 maintains four lanes along Okeechobee Road to the Miami-Dade County. A short distance beyond the crossing, U.S. 27 veers southeast for its final approach to Miami by way of Hialeah Gardens, Hialeah and Miami Springs. Okeechobee Road carries the route to NW 36th Street east, which U.S. 27 takes paralleling the Airport Expressway (SR 112) to conclude at U.S. 1 (Biscayne Boulevard).
U.S. 27 Florida Guides
North
Connect with:
Interstate 4
Interstate 10
Interstate 75
U.S. 19
U.S. 41
U.S. 92
U.S. 98
U.S. 301
U.S. 319
U.S. 441
State Road 50
Page Updated 10-12-2022.