Highway 135 serves as an east–west and north–south route between the cities of Virginia, Gilbert, Biwabik, Aurora, and Tower in northeast Minnesota.

[1] Originally, it began at Highway 18 on the northwestern shore of Mille Lacs Lake near Nichols.

[1][3] By 1923, the only paved portion was from Grand Rapids to Chisholm, and the highway was still unimproved for several miles north of Hill City.

[6][7] It was paved from Aitkin to its first crossing with the Mississippi River and bituminous surfaced along the remaining portion of the roadway from Garrison to Grand Rapids in 1931,[7][8] and rerouted south of its former alignment between Keewatin and Hibbing in 1932.

In 1964, the highway underwent a significant realignment; instead of entering downtown Aurora, it was rerouted to turn northward at the city limit and travel several miles before making a sharp curve eastward to rejoin its existing route.

Where the original route had turned northeastward at its junction with Highway 37, it now traveled southeast and crossed to the south side of the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway for several miles before turning to the north, crossing the railway again, and rejoining its original alignment in Biwabik.