Minnesota State Highway 61

Trunk Highway 61
Route information
Maintained by Mn/DOT
Length:	148.843 mi[1] (239.540 km)
Existed:	1991 – present
Tourist routes:	Lake Superior Circle Tour North Shore Scenic Drive
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 US State Legislative routes ← US 61 MN 62 →

Minnesota State Highway 61 (MN 61) is a highway in northeast Minnesota, which runs from a junction with Interstate 35 (I-35) in Duluth at 26th Avenue East, and continues northeast to its northern terminus at the 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. MN 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 until 1991. This highway, then US 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 that follows Saint Louis County Road 61 / Lake County Road 61 / MN 61, formerly US 61, from the city of Duluth, Minnesota, to the Canadian border near Grand Portage. The route stays close to the rocky North Shore, offering spectacular vistas of the lake to the southeast as it skirts along the foothills of the Sawtooth Range to the northwest.

Route description

Highway 61 entering Grand Marais from the south

MN 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 MN 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.

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

The following state parks are located on Highway 61:

• Gooseberry Falls State Park is located 13 miles (21 km) northeast of Two Harbors in Lake County.^[2]
• Split Rock Lighthouse State Park is located in Lake County between Two Harbors and Silver Bay.^[3]
• Tettegouche State Park is located in Lake County at the base of the Baptism River. The park is located immediately northeast of Silver Bay.^[4]
• Temperance River State Park is located immediately northeast of Schroeder in Cook County.^[5]
• Cascade River State Park is located in Cook County between Lutsen and Grand Marais.^[6]
• Judge C. R. Magney State Park is located on the banks of the Brule River. The park is located 14 miles (23 km) northeast of Grand Marais in Cook County.^[7]
• Grand Portage State Park is located in Cook County on the banks of the Pigeon River. The community of Grand Portage is nearby.^[8]

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

The southern terminus for MN 61 is its junction with I-35 in Duluth in northeast Minnesota. The national northern terminus for I-35 is also located at this same junction with 26th Avenue East.

The northern terminus for MN 61 is at the Canadian border, near Grand Portage, where it becomes Ontario Highway 61 upon entering Canada at the Pigeon River Bridge. The roadway continues to Thunder Bay.

History

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

After construction of I-35 in the 1960s, US 61 was co-signed with I-35 until 1991. During that year, US 61 was decommissioned from the Canadian border south to its present-day junction with I-35 at the city of Wyoming near Forest Lake. The section of US 61 north of Duluth was redesignated MN 61 that same year.

MN 61 is one of three state marked highways to carry the same number as an existing U.S. Highway within the state, the others are MN 65 and MN 169.

Early history

MN 61, between Duluth and the Canadian border, was commissioned as part of US 61 in 1926, ready for use by 1929, and paved by 1940.

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

The MN 61 expressway between Duluth and Two Harbors was constructed inland in the 1960s. The state then turned over maintenance of the original US 61 between Duluth and Two Harbors to Saint Louis and Lake counties. The two counties then redesignated this section as CR 61 or Scenic 61.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
St. Louis	Duluth	1.471	2.367	I-35 south / LSCT – St. Paul, Minneapolis	I-35 exit 259; southern end of LSCT concurrency.
		5.425	8.731	North Shore Drive (Scenic 61, to CR 61)
	Duluth Township	14.890	23.963	CR 42 (Homestead Road)
Lake	Two Harbors	24.668	39.699	CR 61
		26.189	42.147	CR 2 (4th Street)
	Silver Creek Township	28.526	45.908	CR 3
	Beaver Bay	51.162	82.337	CR 4 (Lax Lake Road)
	Silver Bay	54.315	87.412	CR 5 (Penn Boulevard / Outer Drive)
	Illgen City	59.308	95.447	MN 1 west – Ely
	Little Marais	65.271	105.043	CR 6
Cook	Tofte	82.682	133.064	CR 2 (Sawbill Trail)
	Lutsen	92.528	148.909	CR 4
	West Cook	101.704	163.677	CR 7
	Grand Marais	110.256	177.440	CR 12 (Gunflint Trail)
	West Cook	110.725	178.195	CR 7 (5th Street)
	Hovland	128.867	207.391	CR 16 (Arrowhead Trail)
	East Cook	134.643	216.687	CR 17
	Grand Portage	143.353	230.704	CR 17 (Mile Creek Road)
		150.870	242.802	Highway 61 north / LSCT – Thunder Bay
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

• Saint Louis County Road 61: Scenic 61
• Lake County Road 61: Scenic 61

References

External links

Route map: Google

• Media related to Minnesota State Highway 61 at Wikimedia Commons