# Minnesota State Highway 1

Minnesota State Highway 1 (MN 1) is a state highway across northern Minnesota, United States, which runs from North Dakota Highway 54 (ND 54) at the North Dakota state line (at the Red River in Oslo) and continues east to its eastern terminus at MN 61 at the unincorporated community of Illgen City in Beaver Bay Township on the North Shore of Lake Superior. At 346 miles (557 km) in length, MN 1 is the longest state route in Minnesota.

## Route description

MN 1 serves as an east–west route between Oslo, Warren, Thief River Falls, Red Lake, Northome, Cook, Tower, Ely, and Beaver Bay Township.
The roadway passes through the following forests:
* Finland State Forest in Lake County
* Superior National Forest in Lake and Saint Louis counties
* Bear Island State Forest in Lake and Saint Louis counties
* Kabetogama State Forest in Saint Louis County
* George Washington State Forest in Itasca County
* Koochiching State Forest in Koochiching County
The route runs concurrently with MN 169 for 26 miles (42 km) from Vermilion Lake Township (west of Tower) to Ely.
MN 1 also runs concurrently with MN 89 for 28 miles (45 km) on the southwest side of Red Lake. This is the longest concurrency with another state highway within Minnesota.

## History

Most of MN 1 was authorized in 1933, except for a section between U.S. Highway 75 (US 75) and MN 32 at Thief River Falls, which was part of Minnesota Constitutional Route 33 authorized in 1920.
The route was given the MN 1 designation because it was one of the longest trunk highways, and would allow re-use of the MN 1 markers removed from along US 61 and US 65 in 1934.
When it was marked in 1934, it was only paved from US 75 to MN 32 and from MN 169 to Ely.
As recently as 1963, significant portions of MN 1 were unpaved.
MN 1 still had an unpaved segment in 1996, between US 53 and MN 169 in northern Saint Louis County. At that point it was swapped with paved County Road 22.

## Major intersections

| County | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes |
| Red River of the North | Red River of the North | 0.000 | 0.000 | ND 54 west – I-29 | Continuation in North Dakota |
| Marshall | Oak Park Township | 1.554 | 2.501 | MN 220 north / CSAH 3 – MN 11 | Western end of MN 220 concurrency |
| Marshall | Alvarado | 6.555 | 10.549 | MN 220 south (Boundary Street) / CSAH 10 – East Grand Forks | Eastern end of MN 220 concurrency |
| Marshall | Warren | 17.050 | 27.439 | US 75 (S Main Street) – Crookston, Hallock | |
| Pennington | Thief River Falls | 44.457 | 71.547 | US 59 north / CSAH 16 – Karlstad | Western end of US 59 concurrency |
| Pennington | Thief River Falls | 45.771 | 73.661 | MN 32 south (Main Avenue) / US 59 south (3rd Street East) – Red Lake Falls | Southern end of MN 32 concurrency; eastern end of US 59 concurrency |
| Pennington | Thief River Falls | 46.118 | 74.220 | MN 32 north (Main Avenue) – Greenbush | Northern end of MN 32 concurrency |
| Pennington | Goodridge Township | 63.367 | 101.979 | MN 219 north / CSAH 24 – Goodridge | Southern terminus of MN 219 |
| Beltrami | Red Lake Indian Reservation | 89.331 | 143.764 | MN 89 north – Grygla, Roseau | Northern end of MN 89 concurrency |
| Clearwater | No major junctions | No major junctions | No major junctions | No major junctions | No major junctions |
| Beltrami | Red Lake Indian Reservation | 116.960 | 188.229 | MN 89 south – Bemidji | Southern end of MN 89 concurrency |
| Beltrami | Cormant Township | 141.331 | 227.450 | MN 72 south / CSAH 36 – Blackduck, Bemidji | Western end of MN 72 concurrency |
| Beltrami | Shooks | 146.400 | 235.608 | MN 72 north – Kelliher, Baudette | Eastern end of MN 72 concurrency |
| Koochiching | Unorganized Territory of Northome | 151.288 | 243.474 | US 71 south – Blackduck, Bemidji | Southern end of US 71 concurrency |
| Koochiching | Northome | 154.276 | 248.283 | US 71 north / CSAH 15 – International Falls | Northern end of US 71 concurrency |
| Koochiching | Northome | 154.564 | 248.747 | MN 46 south / CSAH 40 – Deer River | |
| Koochiching | Unorganized Territory of Northome | 178.128 | 286.669 | MN 6 north – Big Falls | Northern end of MN 6 concurrency |
| Itasca | Unorganized Territory of Effie | 180.452 | 290.409 | MN 6 south – Deer River | Southern end of MN 6 concurrency |
| Itasca | Effie | 186.656 | 300.394 | MN 38 south – Bigfork | |
| Itasca | Carpenter Township | 211.369 | 340.165 | MN 65 south – Nashwauk | Western end of MN 65 concurrency |
| Itasca | Carpenter Township | 215.424 | 346.691 | MN 65 north – Littlefork | Eastern end of MN 65 concurrency |
| St. Louis | Linden Grove | 229.223 | 368.899 | MN 73 – Chisholm, US 53 | |
| St. Louis | Field Township | 236.245 | 380.199 | US 53 north / CSAH 115 – International Falls | Northern end of US 53 concurrency |
| St. Louis | Sherman Corner | 244.377 | 393.287 | US 53 south / CSAH 22 – Virginia | Southern end of US 53 concurrency |
| St. Louis | Peyla | 258.848 | 416.575 | MN 169 south – Virginia | Western end of MN 169 concurrency |
| St. Louis | Tower | 263.159 | 423.513 | MN 135 south – Embarrass, Babbitt, Aurora | |
| St. Louis | Ely | 286.208 | 460.607 | MN 169 north – Winton | Eastern end of MN 169 concurrency |
| Lake | Illgen City | 347.340 | 558.990 | MN 61 / LSCT – Two Harbors, Grand Marais | |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus ||||||