Between Hopkins and Bedford, the highway heads northeast, running parallel to the east fork of the One Hundred and Two River.

At Bedford, the river goes east around the city while the highway turns north into town.

[1] The route heads due north from Bedford, but jogs to the west near Lake of Three Fires State Park, but returns to a due-north course near Gravity.

At Anita, the route curves into town along Michigan Street and crosses the Iowa Interstate Railroad right before it meets Main Street, the corner of Main and Michigan represents the eastern end of Iowa 83.

[5] When US 6 was relocated onto I-80 between the Atlantic and Adair exits in 1972, Iowa 148 was extended north to its present-day end at I-80.