U.S. Route 61 (
US 61) is the official designation for a
United States highway that runs from
New Orleans, Louisiana, to the city of
Wyoming, Minnesota. The highway generally follows the course of the
Mississippi River, and is designated the
Great River Road for much of its route. As of 2004, the highway's northern terminus in Wyoming, Minnesota is at an intersection with
Interstate 35 (I-35). Prior to 1991, the highway extended north on what is now
Minnesota State Highway 61 (MN 61) through
Duluth to the
United States–Canada border near
Grand Portage. Its southern terminus in New Orleans is at an intersection with Tulane Avenue at South Broad Street. The highway is often called "
The Blues Highway", because of the course it takes from
St. Paul to
St. Louis, through
Memphis, into the
Mississippi Delta, and eventually ending in
New Orleans.