Minnesota State Highway 371 - Route Description

Route Description

MN 371 serves as a north–south route in central and north-central Minnesota between Little Falls, Baxter, Brainerd, Nisswa, Pequot Lakes, Walker, and Cass Lake.

Highway 371 departs from US 10 at Little Falls heading to the north, paralleling the Mississippi River on the east side of the river. MN 371 is a freeway-standard route coming off of US 10 as it passes on the west side of the industrial sector of Little Falls. The first interchange heading northbound is with Morrison County Road 46 (CR 46), which is the only interchange within the Little Falls area for the freeway portion.

After Little Falls the route enters rural farmland, which will characterize the rest of the freeway portion of the route. The next interchange for Highway 371 is near the Fort Ripley military base where it meets MN 115 and CR 47 at a diamond interchange. MN 115 serves the military base to the west; a large tank used as a monument is located on the east side of the interchange. It formerly sat on the west side of Highway 371 before the interchange with Highway 115 was built in the early 2000s. This interchange with Highway 115 was the final piece to be completed in the Highway 371 freeway upgrade.

The Highway 371 freeway ends a few miles north of Highway 115 at CR 48, but maintains a four-lane divided highway configuration. North of CR 48, Highway 371 crosses into Crow Wing County and enters the town of Fort Ripley, spending a short time passing through the center of the small town. The highway quickly leaves Fort Ripley and continues north as the landscape steadily becomes less farm-oriented and more forested. After Fort Ripley the highway turns to the northeast for several miles and clips the southeast corner of Crow Wing State Park.

A few more miles to the northeast, Highway 371 intersects Business Highway 371; this is the Brainerd exit. In the year 2000, Highway 371 was moved onto the C. Elmer Anderson Memorial Highway, which bypasses Brainerd to the west, and the old roadway into downtown Brainerd was redesignated Business Highway 371. Highway 371 itself turns back to the north and crosses the Mississippi River before entering Baxter, a smaller city just to the west of Brainerd. In Baxter, MN 371 intersects MN 210, another major arterial route for northern Minnesota. Highway 371 heads north through the business district of Baxter, then enters the Gull Lake area, a popular tourist destination.

Highway 371 crosses an intersection with CR 77 and CR 48. CR 77 is a three-quarter loop around Gull Lake to the west, while Highway 371 makes up the eastern quarter. Highway 371 passes north past several lakes along with many resorts, and reaches the town of Nisswa at a junction with CR 77 and CR 13; CR 13 goes into Nisswa, while CR 77 will take one back around Gull Lake to the west. North of this intersection, Highway 371 reduces to a two-lane road, one lane in each direction, as the landscape becomes noticeably more forested.

The next town on the route is Pequot Lakes, most famous for its fishing bobber water tower. The road leaves the otherwise small town, which does have one traffic light, behind quickly. Several miles north of Pequot Lakes and after passing through the small town of Jenkins, MN 371 enters Cass County.

The forested landscape subsides for a short while as Highway 371 comes to the town of Pine River, the largest town on the route between Brainerd and Walker, and here Highway 371 intersects the southern terminus of MN 84. Highway 84 heads to the northeast to Chickamaw Beach and Longville while Highway 371 continues due north.

The forests return as Highway 371 reaches the town of Backus, located on Pine Mountain Lake, where it meets MN 87 for a short concurrency. After Highway 87 splits off to the east just past Backus Airport, Highway 371 heads into rural forest for about 22 miles (35 km), broken only by the small town of Hackensack before reaching MN 200 just south of Walker, a regionally important city in northern Minnesota. Highway 371 and Highway 200 begin an 8-mile (13 km) concurrency at this intersection; Highway 371 north and Highway 200 west continue to the northwest together as they pass around Walker Bay, the western arm of Leech Lake, one of the largest lakes in Minnesota. The two pass the former Ah-gwah-ching facility, which was serviced by the unsigned MN 290.

Highway 371 and Highway 200 concurrently reach downtown Walker, a town where travelers can find most amenities. Also in Walker is the eastern terminus of MN 34, which provides the main route between Walker, Park Rapids, and Detroit Lakes to the west.

Several miles northwest of Walker, Highway 200 splits off Highway 371, heading west towards Lake Itasca while Highway 371 stays heading north. Highway 371 will not intersect any more state highways on its mainline routing after this intersection. Meanwhile, the landscape now becomes less treelined and more hilly as the route progresses towards Cass Lake, the final city on Highway 371. The route enters Cass Lake from the south, passes through downtown and ends at U.S. Highway 2 just north of downtown, although the roadway itself continues north as a local street.