Minnesota State Highway 73

Minnesota State Highway 73 (MN 73) is a 119.697-mile-long (192.634 km) highway in northeast Minnesota, which runs from its interchange with Interstate Highway 35 in Moose Lake and continues north to its northern terminus at its intersection with U.S. Highway 53 in Field Township near Cook and Orr.

Trunk Highway 73
MN 73 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MnDOT
Length	119.697 mi[1] (192.634 km)
Existed	1933–present
Major junctions
South end	I-35 near Moose Lake
Major intersections	MN 210 at Cromwell US 2 at Floodwood US 169 / MN 37 at Hibbing US 169 at Chisholm
North end	US 53 in Field Township
Location
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
Counties	Carlton, St. Louis
Highway system
Minnesota Trunk Highway System Interstate US State Legislative Scenic
← MN 72 → MN 74

Route description

Highway 73 serves as a north–south route in northeast Minnesota between Moose Lake, Kettle River, Cromwell, Floodwood, Hibbing, and Chisholm.

The roadway passes through the Sturgeon River State Forest and the Superior National Forest, both north of Chisholm, in Saint Louis County.

The route is legally defined as Legislative Route 163 in the Minnesota Statutes.^[2] It is not marked with this number.

History

Highway 73 was authorized in 1933, and was originally numbered "Minnesota 63" until that U.S. route number was added elsewhere in Minnesota.^[3]

The route was marked as "Minnesota 73" by 1935.^[3]

In 1940, the route was mostly gravel south of Hibbing. The last segments paved in the mid-1950s were south of Hibbing.^[3]

The Highway 73 designation was extended south through Moose Lake, partially along old U.S. 61, to Interstate 35 in the mid-1970s.^[3]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Carlton	Moose Lake Township	0.000	0.000	I-35 / CR 137 – Duluth, Saint Paul, Minneapolis	Interchange
	Moose Lake	1.136	1.828	MN 289 east – Minnesota Correctional Facility
		1.486	2.391	CSAH 61 south / Old US 61	South end of CSAH 61 overlap
		2.289	3.684	MN 27 east / CSAH 61 north / Old US 61 – Duluth	South end of MN 27 overlap; north end of CSAH 61 overlap
	Silver Township	7.007	11.277	MN 27 west to MN 65	North end of MN 27 overlap
	Cromwell	25.225	40.596	MN 210 – Duluth, Aitkin
St. Louis	Floodwood Township	42.874	68.999	US 2 east – Duluth	South end of US 2 overlap
	Floodwood	43.120	69.395	US 2 west – Grand Rapids	North end of US 2 overlap
	Hibbing	78.846	126.890	US 169 south – Grand Rapids	South end of US 169 overlap
				Downtown (1st Avenue)	Interchange; former Bus. US 169 / MN 73
				MN 37 east – Eveleth
				Howard Street	Former Bus. US 169 / MN 73
	Chisholm	87.153	140.259	US 169 north / CSAH 5 – Virginia, McCarthy Beach State Park	North end of US 169 overlap
	Linden Grove	114.637	184.490	MN 1 – Cook, Effie
	Field Township	119.855	192.888	US 53 – Virginia, International Falls
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus