The line stretches for 136 miles (219 km) across southwestern Minnesota and southeastern South Dakota, forming the eastern end of the RCPE shortline network.
Originally the line was a part of the Chicago and North Western Railway.
From 1986 it was a part of Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad, which later became a subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Railway.
RCPE trains may continue to Mankato using trackage rights to interchange with the Union Pacific Railroad.
The Huron Subdivision is a direct descendant of the railroad line featured in the four De Smet novels within the overall series of children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder known as the Little House on the Prairie series.