Minnesota State Highway 61

Trunk Highway 61
Route information
Maintained by Mn/DOT
Length: 148.843 mi[1] (239.540 km)
Existed: 1991 – present
Major junctions
South end: I-35 at Duluth
  CR 2 at Two Harbors
MN 1 at Illgen City, near Silver Bay
CR 12 at Grand Marais
North end: Highway 61 near Grand Portage
Location
Counties: Saint Louis, Lake, Cook
Highway system

Minnesota Trunk Highways
Interstate • U.S. • State
Inter-County • County roads • Legislative routes

US 61 MN 62

Minnesota State Highway 61 is a highway in northeast Minnesota, which runs from the junction of Interstate Highway 35 and Minnesota 61 in Duluth (at 26th Avenue East) and continues northeast to its northern terminus at the U.S.-Canadian border near Grand Portage. The roadway becomes Ontario Highway 61 upon entering Canada at the Pigeon River Bridge, and terminates at the Trans-Canada Highway in Thunder Bay. Minnesota Highway 61 is 149 miles (240 km) in length.

The route is a scenic highway, following the North Shore of Lake Superior, and is part of the Lake Superior Circle Tour designation that runs through Minnesota, Ontario, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

This roadway was designated U.S. Highway 61 up until 1991. This highway (then U.S. 61) is the road that musician Bob Dylan referred to in the album and song Highway 61 Revisited.

The North Shore Scenic Drive is an All-American Road scenic byway designated route that follows Saint Louis County Road 61 / Lake County Road 61 / State Highway 61 (formerly U.S. 61) from the city of Duluth, Minnesota to the Canadian border near Grand Portage. The route stays close to the rocky North Shore of Lake Superior, offering spectacular vistas of the lake to the southeast as it skirts along the foothills of the Sawtooth Range to the northwest.

Contents

Route and features

Minnesota Highway 61 serves as a northeast–southwest route in northeast Minnesota between Duluth, Two Harbors, Silver Bay, Grand Marais, and the Canadian border.

21 miles (34 km) of Highway 61 from Duluth to Two Harbors is a four-lane expressway officially designated the Arthur Rohweder Memorial Highway. There are no markers on the highway showing this designation, but there is a plaque at a wayside.

The roadway is located close to and in many places next to Lake Superior. Sights include forests, wildlife, cliffs, state parks, and a national monument.

Forests

Highway 61 passes through the Superior National Forest and the Grand Portage State Forest in Cook County.

State Parks

The following state parks are located on Highway 61:

Landmark

The Grand Portage National Monument is located adjacent to the town of Grand Portage on Highway 61.[9]

Features

A listing of more attractions located on or near Highway 61 is at North Shore (Lake Superior).

Termini

The southern terminus for Minnesota 61 is its junction with Interstate Highway 35 in Duluth in northeast Minnesota.
(Located in Duluth at 26th Avenue East, this is also the national northern terminus for I-35.)

The northern terminus for Minnesota 61 is at the U.S.-Canadian border (near Grand Portage, Minn.), where it becomes Ontario Highway 61 upon entering Canada at the Pigeon River Bridge.

History

Minnesota Highway 61 was designated and signed in 1991. The roadway was originally part of U.S. Highway 61 from 1926 to 1991.

After construction of I-35 in the 1960s, U.S. 61 was co-signed with I-35 until 1991. During that year, U.S. 61 was decommissioned from the Canadian border south to its present day junction with I-35 at the city of Wyoming, Minn. (near Forest Lake). The section of U.S. 61 north of Duluth was re-designated Minnesota 61 that same year.

Minnesota 61 is one of three state marked highways to carry the same number as an existing U.S. marked highway within the state, the others being Highways 65 and 169.

Early History

Highway 61 (between Duluth and the Canadian border) was commissioned as part of U.S. Highway 61 in 1926, ready for use by 1929, and paved by 1940.

The section of Highway 61 from Hovland to the Pigeon River formerly ran inland, bypassing Grand Portage. The new highway alignment and border crossing were constructed in the early 1960s.

The Highway 61 expressway between Duluth and Two Harbors was constructed inland in the 1960s. The state then turned over management of the original U.S. 61 (between Duluth and Two Harbors) to Saint Louis and Lake counties. The two counties then re-designated this section as "County 61 / Scenic 61".

Major intersections

County Location Mile[1] Destinations Notes
St. Louis
Duluth 1.471 I-35 / LSCT Southern end of LSCT concurrency
5.425 North Shore Drive (Scenic 61, to CR 61)  
Duluth Township 14.890 CR 42 (Homestead Road)  
Lake
Two Harbors 24.668 CR 61  
26.189 CR 2 (4th Street)  
Silver Creek Township 28.526 CR 3  
Beaver Bay 51.162 CR 4 (Lax Lake Road)  
Silver Bay 54.315 CR 5 (Penn Boulevard / Outer Drive)  
Illgen City 59.308 MN 1  
Little Marais 65.271 CR 6  
Cook
Tofte 82.682 CR 2 (Sawbill Trail)  
Lutsen Township 92.528 CR 4  
West Cook 101.704 CR 7  
Grand Marais 110.256 CR 12 (Gunflint Trail)  
West Cook 110.725 CR 7 (5th Street)  
Hovland 128.867 CR 16 (Arrowhead Trail)  
East Cook 134.643 CR 17  
Grand Portage 143.353 CR 17 (Mile Creek Road)  
Pigeon River 150.870 Highway 61 / LSCT U.S.-Canadian border, LSCT continues into Ontario
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References