Introduction

This is a shield gallery of Minnesota’s Officially Named Highways and Scenic Byways. Categorizing them is confusing. Legally, they fall into three categories:

Scenic Byways as recognized by the Department of Tourism
Officially Named highways, as per Sections 161.14 of Minnesota Statutes
A few signed routes that are neither of these.

Some routes (for example King of Trails) fall into both the first and second categories.

By contrast, MnDOT categorizes them as

Scenic Byways
Memorial Routes and Bridges
Trails and Miscellaneous Routes, including some non 161.14 routes

Whereas the few 161.14 highways that don’t memorialize a specific person are split off of the second category and lumped into the third. This page will categorize them as “Scenic Byways” and “Trails, Miscellaneous, and Miscellaneous Routes. For 20 years I’ve been taking pictures of the 161.14 route signs, but there’s a couple of issues. Some are difficult to safely and legally photograph, new ones are being designated faster than I can photograph them, and most importantly, the signs are mainly white text on green or, later, brown and I don’t see the art in collecting and posting them and with close to 100 now they would overwhelm the more artistic designs.

Also, many are no longer signed in the field or have just one or a couple of signs still up. Originally MnDOT was legally obligated to pay for the signs for the routes, but by the 1990s they developed an internal policy contrary to that stating that others had to pay for the signs. Starting in 1995 with the “Bridge of Hope” (MN 15 over the Mississippi River named in honor of Jacob Wetterling and all missing children) it was changed so that others were required to pay for the signs rather than MnDOT, then a 1996 bill made it retroactive to previously designated routes. I’ve posted one example each of the typical signs as well as any that are different than the standard.

For purposes of this page, I’m going to start with the scenic byways, then continue to the 161.24 routes that have unique design, then end with some miscellaneous routes, including some for such things as bicycle trails and with the MnDOT list such as signs for local tourism spots, bicycle trails and such.

Scenic Byways

Apple Blossom Scenic Byway

National Forest Avenue of Pines

Edge of the Wilderness National Scenic Byway

Glacial Ridge Trail

Grand Round National Scenic Byway

Official version, the sky and lettering are supposed to be yellow, but have faded.

Simplified version as used by the city of Minneapolis Parks and Reecreation. This Version is much more common

Great River Road

Gunflint Trail

Historic Bluff Country National Scenic Byway

Historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway Sign

Historic HIghway 75 “King of Trails”

Lady Slipper Scenic Byway (formerly Scenic Highway Scenic Byway)

Old National Forest Design: Scenic Highway Scenic Byway Sign

Lake Country Scenic Byway

Lake Mille Lacs Scenic Byway

Minnesota River Valley National Scenic Byway

North Shore Scenic Drive

Otter Trail Scenic Byway

Paul Bunyan National Scenic Byway

The New design has a blue background and omits the county name at bottom.

Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway Sign (Old Design)

Rushing Rapids Parkway

Saint Croix Scenic Byway

Shooting Star Scenic Byway

Skyline Parkway Scenic Byway

Skyline Parkway Sign- Old City of Duluth Design

Superior National Forest Scenic Byway

Veteran’s Evergreen Memorial Drive

Veteran’s Evergreen Memorial Scenic Drive Sign

Waters of the Dancing Sky Scenic Byway

Officially Named 161.14 Trails and Memorial Highways

Typical Memorial Highway Designs.

As mentioned above, most of the designs of the “Trails” and the “Dr Marvin Monroe Memorial Highway” signs are so similar and so numerous that I don’t see the art in collecting and posting them all. Originally they were 24 X 24 (the same size as standard state highway markers) and posted next to them as reassurance markers like the Byway signs. They were white on green text, now replacements are white on brown text. Some of the newly designated highways (from around 2010) will mark it with one, larger sign, at the start in each direction or possibly at a rest area. Most of these larger signs are also white text on Brown, except for “Officer Shawn Silvera Memorial Highway” (I-35W in the northern suburbs) which predates the other larger signs by a few years and is a white on blue.

Example Assembly with Older style white on brown and even older white on green “Officially Named and Designated Highway” signs.

34th Infantry Division Red Bull Highway

34th Infrantry Division (Red Bull Division) Highway Sign

Amish Buggy Byway

Southeastern Minnesota has a lot of Amish. This is one of the few signs to maintain the white on green instead of switching to white on brown.

Black and Yellow Trail

Us 14 was known as the Black and Yellow Trail in the Auto Trail days, the name has now been revived.

Hiawatha Pioneer Trail

This was a 1960s effort by the American Petroleum Association to get Americans to use more of their fine products by touring a route through (mostly boring) parts Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The states agreed to sign it an put it on their maps, but the very modest interest at the start waned over the years. Iowa was the last to sign their route, into the 2000s, but this is the last Minnesota marker that was legible. It was finally removed as part of the 2013 Hasting Bridge reconstruction. The sign was originally dark brown on yellow. Interestingly MnDOT made up a standard design for this sign, it’s now the standard highway brown on white, apparently because they wanted one on file for each of the 161.14 routes even if there’s no chance in hell that route was ever going to be signed again.

Moberg Trail

Karl Artur Vilhelm Moberg (20 August 1898 – 8 August 1973) was a Swedish Author who wrote four books about Swedish emigration to America. The Moberg Trail, US 8, is in an area that’s full of Swedish heritage even by Minnesota standards.

Purple Hear Trail

Voyageur’s Highway

Other Signs Found Along Roadways

Sometimes counties or local organizations will take the initiative to sign historic or memorial routes or have trailblazers for tourist agencies. These are signs that do not have MnDOT standard templates and are apparently either made on an ad-hoc basis by MnDOT or by local agencies. There are also a few by MnDOT that designate a type of road (like Natural preservations route) rather than a specific highway