Minnesota State Highway 38 (MN 38) is a

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

in north-central

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, which runs from its intersection with

U.S. Highway 2 U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern Canada. Unlike some routes, whi ...

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

and continues north to its northern terminus at its intersection with

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbere ...

Effie Effie is a feminine given name, sometimes a short form (hypocorism) of Euphemia (Greek: Εὐφημία). Notable people with the name include: Women * Effie Bancroft (1840–1921), English actress and theatre manager * Effie Boggess (1927-20 ...

. The entire length of Highway 38 has been designated a National Scenic Byway under the name ''Edge of the Wilderness''. It is also sometimes called the ''Northwoods Highway''.

Route description

State Highway 38 serves as a north–south route between

and

in north-central Minnesota. The route is noted for being a twisty roadway. The route passes through many lake resort areas, such as Wabana Lake, Trout Lake, and others. Highway 38 passes through the

Chippewa National Forest Chippewa National Forest is a National Forest located in north central Minnesota, United States, in the counties of Itasca, Cass and Beltrami. Forest headquarters are located in Cass Lake, Minnesota. There are local ranger district offices i ...

between Itasca County Road 19 and Bigfork. Scenic State Park is located 7 miles east of the

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of Highway 38 and County Road 7 at Bigfork. The park entrance is located on County Road 7.Minnesota DNR website for Scenic State Park - Link
/ref> Highway 38 parallels State Highway 6 throughout its route.

History

State Highway 38 was authorized in 1933. The route was completely paved by 1940.

Major intersections

References

{{Reflist 038 Transportation in Itasca County, Minnesota Chippewa National Forest